Hollywood Life
How would you feel if you’d been wrongfully accused of having an affair with a married man? HollywoodLife.com can now report that the woman at the center of the Tiger Woods maelstrom — Rachel Uchitel — is devastated.
In her first public statement since denying reports that she is involved romantically with Woods, she tells us "I'm not OK! This is awful!” She related that it was terrible to get off her plane at LAX today and be greeted by a sea of paparazzi and reporters. Uchitel, who was named by the National Enquirer as Woods’ alleged mistress, has vehemently denied that assertion.
The 34-year-old told BlackBookMag.com, “I totally deny the Enquirer story. They did contact me about it, but they didn’t use any of my quotes or any of the information I gave them. They make it sound like I said those things, but it’s all other people saying I said things.”
As well, she told the New York Post that the rumors are completely untrue. “This is nothing to do with me,” she said. “We have never had an affair, and the claims we did are completely false. We have never had an affair, talked on the phone or sent any type of text, sexy or not.”
HollywoodLife.com was able to confirm that Uchitel and Woods did meet at least once in May at upscale NYC nightclub Griffin, where she used to work as a VIP hostess. A source told us that Woods went to visit her at the club one night at the end of May. “He went just to see her,” the source said, but that there was “no hand holding or anything obvious.”
Tiger Woods no doubt was not the first celebrity Uchitel came into contact with at Griffin. The club is known to attract celebrities like Chace Crawford and Adam Brody — as well as David Boreanaz, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday there. Star magazine linked Uchitel romantically to Boreanaz — another claim she has totally denied.
The very attractive brunette has dealt with a great deal of adversity already in her short life. She lost her fiance, Andy O’Grady, on 9/11 and shared her grief in a moving piece in the June 2005 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.
Uchitel told us that any further comments to the press will be made by her attorney, Los Angeles-based Gloria Allred. And in fact, Uchitel flew into LAX today where she was met and photographed with Allred. TMZ has reported that Uchitel may sue the National Enquirer for defamation.
Now imagine: How would you feel if you were in Uchitel’s shoes, and your personal life was suddenly being discussed by half the world. How would you feel if you were accused of being romantically involved with a married man, and you weren’t? Wouldn’t you feel awful too?
— Laura Schreffler & Bonnie Fuller
