Rachel Uchitel is being sued by one of Tiger Woods' attorneys for speaking about her 2009 affair with the golfer after signing an $8 million non-disclosure agreement.
Woods was married to Elin Nordegren at the time but they split following the cheating scandal, Metro reported. The affair cost him millions of dollars in corporate endorsements and saw him forced to take five months off from playing golf. Uchitel meanwhile managed to strike a multi-million-dollar deal with Woods and his team which saw her promise her silence in exchange for $5 million, then $1 million annual installments for three years.
In return, Uchitel signed the NDA that prohibited her from discussing "directly or indirectly, verbally or otherwise" with anything "including but not limited to, family members, relatives, acquaintances, friends, associates, co-workers, journalists’ topics including Woods’ lifestyle, proclivities, customs, private conduct, fitness, habits, sexual matters, familial matters."
However, fed up with not being able to tell her own story, Uchitel broke the NDA when she spoke of the affair in the HBO documentary "Tiger," which aired in January this year.
"Ten years later, people were still talking about me as a player in a story I had never talked about," she told The New York Times. "I felt like it was time to take the reins." For once, she wanted "to be the one to narrate my story."
Uchitel, whose tarnished reputation made it difficult for her to find work, was able to successfully file for bankruptcy, having spent the approximately $2 million she netted from the agreement. The bulk of it went towards lawyer fees, as well as taxes and other costs. But now Wood's lawyer, Michael Holtz, wants to bring a claim against her for millions for violating the NDA. Speaking with The Times, Uchitel claimed the lawyer had threatened her.
“If you get a job, I’ll come after your wages," she recalled him saying to her. "If you get married, I’ll go after your joint bank account. I will come after you for the rest of your life." It was not long before she learned that, despite her bankruptcy protection, Holtz still had intentions to pursue damages against her.
Uchitel said she reached out to Holtz and Woods, proposing a $275,000 annual stipend. Holtz reportedly did not respond to the request but in May he made an appearance at a virtual bankruptcy hearing for Uchitel, when he was granted a motion to move forward.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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