Disgraced golfer Tiger Woods came close to tears as he issued a grovelling apology for the sex scandal that left this career and marriage in tatters.

Standing in front of a select audience of family and friends, he revealed he had assumed he could get away with anything and “deserved to enjoy all the temptations” after his success.

Speaking for the first time since sordid affairs with up to 14 women came to light, Tiger admitted he needs help and leapt to defend his wife Elin over claims that she physically attacked him before his bizarre November 27 car crash.

After delivering the 15-minute-long prepared statement, the 34-year-old icon hugged and kissed his mother, Kultida Woods, who had watched from the front row.

She and a smattering of Tiger’s friends and golfing buddies then patted him on the back before he left the room, at PGA Tour headquarters, in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

As Tiger disappeared behind the curtains, he seemed to be wiping away tears.

Only a small number of reporters and just one camera were allowed into the room for the statement – feeding out the footage by satellite to broadcasters.

Despite speculation she would attend, his Swedish wife Elin – the mother of his two young children – stayed at home in Windermere, Orlando, with Sam, two, and one-year-old Charlie.

Tiger’s shattered marriage featured heavily in the statement, but he stressed that details of any possible reunion would be kept strictly private and he pleaded for his family to be left alone.

“As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words – it will come in my behaviour over time. We have a lot to discuss, and what we say to each other will remain between the two of us.”

It has emerged that dozens of 17-year-old bottles of scent – each featuring a hologram of the star – were left over from Jackson’s failed bid to release his own fragrance in the early ’90s.

The ill-fated attempt, which reportedly left the Thriller star millions out of pocket, was pulled when his 1993 child molestation accusations came to light.

Until then, the project was going full steam ahead, says Florida-based entertainment manager Neil London, who had been asked to produce a TV advertisement to sell the product.

The commercial was finished but never hit the TV screens. “So dangerous, it’s not available in stores,” the voiceover says, in a tribute to Jackson’s album at the time, Dangerous.

“Let Michael Jackson stir your senses like never before, with ‘Mystique de Michael Jackson’ for women and ‘Le Jan de Michael Jackson for men’ – two dangerously seductive scents.”

The limited-edition perfume was to be distributed through direct marketing and an 800 telephone number.

However, the scheme was axed the day before it was due to go live in the summer of 1993, when the scandal emerged about Jackson’s sleepovers with young boys at his Neverland Ranch. A holographic image of Jackson, who died aged 50 on June 25, was on the front of each bottle.

It is understood most of the 400,000 bottles were destroyed but London, who now runs a popular lifestyle website, kept back a few dozen for himself.

Michael Jackson’s father has revealed the family have not yet planned the pop star’s funeral – but that they do want the public involved.

In a bizarre press conference outside the Jackson family home in Los Angeles, Joe Jackson was accompanied by the Reverend Al Sharpton.

The press conference was expected to be held to announce details of Jacko’s funeral or memorial service.

But it began with Rev Sharpton defending Joe Jackson’s appearance at the BET Awards just three days after his son passed away.

Joe continued talking about his record company after Sharpton’s introduction, rambling about Miraz Records before finally turning the talk to his famous son.

Wearing a black shirt and hat, Joe Jackson said: “Hello everybody, I’m here to witness, something that we want you to know.

“I was asked a question last night about the record company, well what I am doing is, I established a record company with Marshall and that company is called Miraz Record.

So we have a lot of good artists to come out. I was asked that question and I answered like it was, but they wanted to know what else I was doing.”

Brian Oxman fears the medication may have contributed to the 50-year-old’s death from a suspected heart attack.

The lawyer said: “I don’t know if they are the cause here. I will reserve my conclusions until the toxicology reports and the coroner has made his report before I make any accusations. But I can tell you that if it is as I fear I will not be silent.

“I have been very, very critical of the use of pain medications. I have told people in no uncertain terms that if Michael one day woke up and he was dead I would not be silent, I would not permit this to go unchallenged.

“Michael had fallen from a stage several years ago. He cracked a vertebrae in his back. He also broke his leg and it’s caused him a lot of pain. The result of that is he has taken a lot of pain medications. They’ve been to treat actual pains he’s had, but the use of these medications I felt had become life threatening.”

Source: Splash News