Disney has joined in making jokes at the expense of Tiger Woods even as a new poll shows the embattled billionaire golf star’s popularity sinking to levels usually reserved for politicians.
Woods has remained in seclusion since the sex scandal firestorm around him began four weeks ago and faces a Christmas holiday weekend and 34th birthday on Wednesday, what should be joyful times, as a mocked social pariah.
Woods has admitted cheating on his wife Elin and is taking an indefinite break from golf, potentially setting the stage for the 14-time major champion to miss chances to move nearer the record 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus.
PHOTO: AFP
Disneyland’s California Adventure Park in Anaheim has now written a Woods joke into its Aladdin show.
The genie in the tale says that he had to remind Woods 15 times that he was unable to make someone fall in love with him, the Los Angeles Times reported.
At least 14 women have claimed to have had affairs with the world’s No. 1 golfer, who has lost one sponsor and seen several others quit using his image, claiming to respect his desire for privacy during his hiatus.
Woods has made statements on his Web site, but has not been seen since the early morning car crash on Nov. 27 — in which he suffered facial cuts and bruises — that ignited the media storm.
NBC last week estimated that a photograph of Woods could be worth as much as US$300,000, a paparazzi holy grail that has kept photographers looking for a Christmas gift by finding the reclusive sport star.
Woods might have something else to expect from Santa Claus for Christmas, as freelance cartoonist Deb Milbrath points out on the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists Web site.
She has a drawing of a stocking with “Tiger” and a tiger tail on it hung by a chimney, filled to overflowing with lumps of coal.
Adding to the woes for Woods was a new CNN popularity poll taken last week in which Woods has a 34 percent favorable rank and 49 percent unfavorable rating.
A similar poll taken less than a week after Woods’ car accident after he had admitted only “transgressions” and “personal sins” gave Woods a 60 percent favorable rating compared with a 25 percent unfavorable rating.
The new numbers showed women gave Woods a 40 percent favorable mark compared with 39 percent from men. About two-thirds of blacks gave Woods a favorable mark in the poll compared with only 28 percent of whites, the results found.
Last week, Woods managed only a 33 percent favorable rating in a USA Today/Gallup poll, a plunge from his peak of 88 percent favorable in 2000 that matched former US president George W. Bush for the biggest fall from grace in the survey group’s history.
The latest poll, however, compared with a Washington Post/ABC News poll released last week that showed a drop in support from men for Woods.
Woods had an unfavorable rating of 43 percent in the Post/ABC poll compared with 49 percent in CNN’s poll.
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