Source: Getty

Serena Williams is attempting to do damage control after the disparaging comments she made about the 16-year-old Steubenville rape victim in Rolling Stone went viral. But I’m guessing the tennis pro is going to have to try a lot harder than this, because her explanation sounds a lot like reality TV stars claiming what we see of them on camera isn’t accurate. Basically, she’s passing the buck.

Here’s the statement Serena placed on her website, SerenaWilliams.com.

“What happened in Steubenville was a real shock for me. I was deeply saddened. For someone to be raped, and at only sixteen, is such a horrible tragedy! For both families involved – that of the rape victim and of the accused. I am currently reaching out to the girl’s family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written – what I supposedly said – is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame.

I have fought all of my career for women’s equality, women’s equal rights, respect in their fields – anything I could do to support women I have done. My prayers and support always goes out to the rape victim. In this case, most especially, to an innocent sixteen year old child.”

So, what do you think? Is this enough to restore your faith in the tennis champ and the part she plays in rape culture?

Internalizing every little thing is a sure way to dig yourself an early grave. I should know.

Years ago I had this pretty cool job and tried so desperately to please my boss. I thought she was the ish. She moved and things happened. She could command a room with little to no effort. She was envied and honored among her peers. Even if some of them didn’t like her, they couldn’t help but respect her work ethic and the fact that she got things done. I was enamored with her glow. I wanted to show her that I was worthy of my position, that I could be the best. I sought her approval like a dog digging for a bone.

I put in late, unnecessary hours. I spent days pouring over new ideas, getting things JUST right, eagerly anticipating her approval. But I could feel something was out of kilter. We weren’t vibing no matter how hard I tried. I would pitch something to her and she would give it a half glance. She came down on me for things that were far beyond my control and barely spoke when something I had done was a success. I can’t lie – I cried many a night, wondering what I was doing wrong. Why did this woman seem to loathe me when all I wanted was her esteem? I saw her as a mentor! I was busting my butt for her praise and getting sideways looks and whispers behind closed doors. What the EFF?

It took a long talk with my pastor and one of Don Miguel Ruiz’s Four Agreements to find the answer to my sad little prayers.

My pastor was always known for being a straight shooter and true to her cut-and-dry form she said to me:

“You put too much trust in people. People ain’t God so LATER for what they think!”

I felt pretty stupid for having wasted so much time taking my boss’s disdain personally when I KNEW I was doing everything in my power to please her. But therein lay the problem, didn’t it? Just like my pastor said, I was so busy trying to please people instead of consulting with God and simply doing my best that I was panic stricken more often than not. I wasn’t enjoying life. I wasn’t happy even though I loved my work. I was even having appetite and health issues as a sad result! She was going on, enjoying her life, never knowing the extent of my pain while I was confused and hurt and worried day and night. Crazy.

I came across the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and the second agreement hit me square in the face:

“Don’t Take Anything Personally”

“Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality. When you are immune to the actions and opinions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”

I checked myself. I had been busting my butt, doing my best work. I had no reason to be trapped underneath my boss’s bad attitude or disdain or whatever her problem was. I was allowing myself to suffer for things I had no control over. I was a panic attacked hot mess worrying and wondering. A willing victim. And I was so tired of it.

I realized that I had been basing most of my life around what others thought, what they felt about me. I took every little thing so personally never realizing that sometimes (if not MOST times) a side eye, an unwarranted insult, a snub really had absolutely NOTHING to do with me.

Everyone acts/reacts toward others according to the condition of their own spirit. If something has transpired during the day that has thrown you off kilter, it’s your decision whether or not you will lash out, harbor hard feelings or overcome it. The other side of that coin was the side I had not seen until the situation with my boss, which is this: Just like our action or reaction is based upon what’s going on internally, so it is with how we respond to the way others act toward us. I hadn’t taken the time to self-evaluate and self-affirm, so I allowed anybody and everybody else’s internal conflicts to ruffle my feathers, to define who I was. I victimized myself without even realizing it.

Thankfully, I was able to begin my own personal healing process before I left that particular job. And though I believe my now ex-boss still hasn’t gotten past whatever issues she seemed to have been harboring against me, I learned a valuable lesson, changed my outlook and haven’t had a panic attack since. Your issue is your issue and life is short enough without me taking a few more years off with worry and grief. I choose peace and peace chooses me.

La Trulyis a late-blooming Aries whose writing is powered by a lifetime of anecdotal proof that awkward can transform to awesome and fear can cast its crown before courage. Armed with the ability to purposefully poke fun at herself and a passion for young women’s empowerment, La seeks to encourage thought, discussion and change. Her blog: www.hersoulinc.com and her Twitter: @AshleyLaTruly.

You can call it a poor choice of words or real talk, but while many assumed the Grammy’s had banned Chris Brown for three years solely as a stance against violence toward women, producer Ken Ehrlich says it was really about the fact that Chris’ actions forced his team to fill air time when he and Rihanna pulled out of their performances that night.

Speaking to US Weekly, Ehrlich defended the decision to allow Chris to perform this year, saying:

“It may have taken us a while to kind of get over the fact that we were the victim of what happened.”

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Last year, Russell Dickerson, III, 20, filed a lawsuit against the Aberdeen School District, charging they did little to stop the racial and anti-gay bullying he endured from 2003-2009, and now the Seattle man has been awarded $100,000 in a settlement with school officials.

Russell said throughout junior high and high school he was taunted with racial epithets, spit on, and mocked. His peers would leave racist notes in his backpack and they even created a website to tease him about being black and suggest he was gay. When three students pushed him to the floor and smashed a raw egg on his head, Russell said only one was punished.

Later, in  high school, he said someone posted a fake picture in the locker room of him kissing a man, which caused students to pick on him by pinching and fondling his chest, and he was also ridiculed for his physical appearance. Russell said when he went to the assistant principal about the issue he was told  he should change his style of clothing to avoid being teased.

Despite numerous complaints, Russell and his parents say the bullying continued, even after a no-contact order was issued against one of his harassers. In response to Russell’s claims, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington said Aberdeen school officials failed to do their job.

“Public school officials must be held accountable when they fail to meet their responsibility to act decisively when a student is subjected to harassment by his peers,” Sarah Dunne, ACLU’s legal director, said in a statement.

“This settlement sends a message to school districts statewide to take strong action as soon as they learn that a student is being bullied.”

Speaking on the settlement, Russell said he learned from his parents to never give up.

“You should fight for your rights – you don’t just walk away.”