Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

What was the Accusation?

Five days before the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election, the Los Angeles Times published a report in which six women accused candidate and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger of groping, humiliating, or making unwanted sexual advances toward them across several decades. Three women alleged that Schwarzenegger grabbed their breasts, another said he reached under her skirt and grabbed her buttocks, another alleged that he tried to remove her swimsuit in a hotel elevator, and a sixth said he pulled her onto his lap and made a sexually explicit remark. The allegations became widely known in the media as “Gropegate,” and they surfaced at a particularly volatile moment because Schwarzenegger was then the Republican front-runner to replace California Governor Gray Davis in the recall election.

Schwarzenegger’s campaign initially challenged the timing and political motivation of the story, arguing that Democrats and other opponents were trying to damage his candidacy shortly before Election Day. Schwarzenegger himself denied some of the allegations, said he did not remember many of the incidents described, and also acknowledged that he had “behaved badly sometimes.” His apology combined several image-repair moves: he expressed regret to women he had offended, characterized some conduct as behavior from “rowdy movie sets” that he had mistakenly thought was playful, promised to be a “champion” for women if elected governor, and tried to redirect attention back to the future of California. Schwarzenegger won the recall election on October 7, 2003. Two decades later, while discussing the controversy in the 2023 Netflix documentary Arnold, he again reflected on the allegations and said his past behavior toward women was wrong.

Key Apologia Strategies:

Defeasibility, Mortification, Corrective Action, Good Intentions

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Transcript

Arnold Schwarzenegger remarks following the 2003 allegations:

“I don’t remember things that I’ve done or said 20 years ago. I don’t remember things that I’ve done 30 years ago. And I said that many of the things that are in there are not true because that’s not my behavior.”

“And then other things may be true, and in case it is, that’s why I said I want to apologize if I offended anyone, because that was not my intention.”

“Those people that I have offended, I want to say to them I am deeply sorry about that and I apologize because that’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Yes, I have behaved badly sometimes. Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right and I thought were playful. But now I recognize that I have offended people. And to those people I have offended, I want to say to them that I’m deeply sorry about that and I apologize because that’s not what I tried to do.”

“When I am governor I want to prove to the women that I will be a champion for the women, a champion of the women…Now let’s go from the dirty politics to the future of California.”

Sources

Campbell, D. (2003, October 3). Schwarzenegger admits behaving badly after groping claims. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/03/usa.filmnews

Cohn, G., Hall, C., & Welkos, R. W. (2003, October 2). Women say Schwarzenegger groped, humiliated them. Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2003/oct/02/local/me-women2

Nicholas, P., Hall, C., & Finnegan, M. (2003, October 3). Schwarzenegger tells backers he “behaved badly.” Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-03-me-arnold3-story.html

Sanchez, R., & Booth, W. (2003, October 3). From Schwarzenegger, an apology. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/10/03/from-schwarzenegger-an-apology/71fa3e00-cb69-4b65-8c5b-906569be5e3f/

Shoard, C. (2023, June 6). “Forget all the excuses”: Arnold Schwarzenegger expresses regret over groping claims. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jun/06/arnold-schwarzenegger-expresses-regret-over-groping-claims

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