This will probably get me condemned all over the blogosphere, but here goes: I have serious doubts about Tila Tequila's accusations against Shawne Merriman.
Yep, I said it, a woman claims to have been abused and I am questioning the veracity of her story. She just has so little credibility, and has shown a willingness to try ANYTHING to get press coverage in her quest for fame. If you are on Twitter you may very well have seen her tweets about a month ago (several in a dialog with @McCainBlogette) about having to deal with a "stalker", which got her no traction in the media. Before that she had the Playboy spread, the desperate for the spotlight reality shows...she started her 'career' by claiming the title of "most friended" on MySpace, mainly by being as provocative and sleazy as she could get away with on the site.
Now, not so long after a pop star was beaten by her boyfriend, leading to an outpouring of sympathy, support & good will (and the accompanying press) tiny little Tila claims that a mountain of a man, with no prior record of such behavior, snapped and choked her (and some other unclear bodily injury) at a party with other people in attendance. After said attack by the 6'4", 265 lb Merriman, she was OK to go to the police department to swear out a citizen arrest warrant (wouldn't she just file a complaint?)...before heading to the hospital. I really find it hard to believe she isn't seeking another moment in the spotlight - no matter who she needs to damage in the process.
Readers of this blog know how I feel about the thugs currently playing in the NFL, and Merriman had his issues with steroids in the past. You also know that I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to domestic violence of any kind.
This story, however, seems a bit off - and I have a feeling that, like the Roethlisberger accusation earlier this year, there will be more to this story than she wants us to know.
Maybe it will turn out that she is telling the truth, and I will be apologizing down the road. Maybe she will learn that when you present a specific persona to the public, you shouldn't be surprised (or angry) when they believe it.
UPDATE: It appears that she did call 911 from his house and the police & an ambulance came. It also appears that, other than that detail, the facts are lining up much as I originally thought. The fact that she appears to have spent several days tweeting about a relationship that he doesn't seem to have been involved in (her tweets were suggestive & targeted, he doesn't appear to have answered in that time-frame) is a huge red flag. The fact that the police didn't feel the need to press charges and there were witnesses to back his story but not hers kind of puts a cap on it.
Posted by Vox at September 6, 2009 04:46 PM | Sports , celebrities