Following the Beijing Olympics, Phelps turned his 14 gold medals into cold, hard cash: his agent estimated that his endorsement deals with Mazda, Visa and others could top $100 million in his lifetime. But Phelps' golden-boy image was tarnished on Jan. 31, when British tabloid News of the World published a photo of Phelps appearing to smoke marijuana from a bong at a University of South Carolina house party. The headline? "What a Dope." Kellogg Co. couldn't have agreed more. "Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg," a spokeswoman said. His face was summarily dropped from cereal boxes around the world. Phelps released an apologetic statement and recorded a video apology with Mandarin subtitles for his fans in China. "I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way," he said. Even so, USA Swimming banned Phelps from competition through early May. No bother: the national and world championships were scheduled for later in the summer anyway.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists