LPGA champ Michelle Wie responded to mentions of her and her undergarments during a story told by Rudy Giuliani during a podcast Thursday. Giuliani told a story of an incident that happened when he and the late radio legend Rush Limbaugh played in a charity fundraiser golf tournament alongside Wie in 2014, and how the media seemed to pay more attention to Wie than the two men.
According to Giuliani, Limbaugh had complained about the large media presence at the event and joked they were there for Giuliani. Wie was putting at the time, and Giuliani recalled:
On the green is Michele Wie, and she is getting ready to putt. … Now Michelle Wie is gorgeous. She’s 6 feet. And she has a strange putting stance. She bends all the way over. And her panties show. And the press was going crazy. … I said ‘[Rush], it’s not me, it’s not you.’
Definitely not the point, but keep wondering why Rudy called this a joke. What is the punchline? pic.twitter.com/VNKgoq92KS
— Christopher Cadelago (@ccadelago) February 19, 2021
Wie responded on her Twitter page, not using Giuliani’s name. “What this person should have remembered from that day was the fact that I shot 64 and beat every male golfer in the field leading our team to victory,” she wrote Friday. “I shudder thinking he was smiling to my face and complimenting my game while objectifying me and referencing my ‘panties’ behind my back all day.”
— Michelle Wie (@MichelleWieWest) February 20, 2021
The LPGA put out a response on Twitter Friday, saying, “She’s a 5-time LPGA Tour winner. Major champion. LPGA Board member, elected by her peers. Stanford graduate. Working mother. We stand with Michelle Wie West.”
She’s a 5-time LPGA Tour winner.
Major champion.
LPGA Board member, elected by her peers.
Stanford graduate.
Working mother.
We stand with @MichelleWieWest 👏 https://t.co/BGr9wn12ab
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 21, 2021
Wie included a statement about the objectification of women athletes in her tweet. “What should be discussed is the elite skill level that women play at, not what we wear or look like,” she said.
Despite Wie’s view that what sportswomen “wear or look like” should not be discussed, she took to her Instagram account in 2017 to protest new LPGA dress code rules that do not allow plunging necklines and states the “length of skirt, skort, and shorts MUST be long enough to not see your bottom area (even if covered by under shorts) at any time, standing or bent over.”
“Offseason = No dress code fines #croptopdroptop,” Wie said.
Women & Golf published a story on Wie that same year titled “Michelle Wie: A Fashion Icon On And Off The Fairways.”
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