Famous Friends Say Woods Has Shut Them Out

(AP)  NBA great Charles Barkley says Tiger Woods changed his cell phone number the day after his car accident and is not talking to some of his famous friends.

On a show that airs on Sunday on news network HLN, Barkley and filmmaker Spike Lee worry that Woods isn't taking advantage of the invaluable advice that can only be offered by friends who are used to the spotlight.

"You should reach out to your celebrity friends when things go bad," Barkley told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Tuesday. "They're the only people who understand what it's like."

Barkley appears on "With All Due Respect" with two other Turner Sports analysts, baseball Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley and longtime NASCAR driver Kyle Petty. Lee is one of the guests in the one-hour special during which the sports stars discuss a variety of topics.

"He's insulated," Lee said during the taping for the show. "If Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan can't get to him, and those are his boys, then other people are making bad moves."

Barkley said on Tuesday he has not spoken to Woods since the Nov. 27 accident, which unleashed a series of events that resulted in him admitting to marital infidelity.

"I've been trying to get to him and can't get to him," he said. "It's very frustrating."

Barkley said he just wants to tell Woods, "Hey, man, we love you. If you need anything, pick up the phone."

Additional Coverage of the Tiger Woods Scandal:
Woods' Wife Seen without Wedding Ring
Woods Leaves PGA in Economic Limbo
Tag Heuer Review Partnership with Woods
Gillette Shaves Tiger Woods From Its Ads
Questions Abound About Tiger's Golf Hiatus
Can Tiger's Marriage Be Saved?
Tiger Woods Taking Leave from Golf
Alleged Mistresses Have Troubled Pasts
Tiger Texts Show Weakness for Woman
Self-Proclaimed Woods Flame: Sorry, Elin
Tiger Woods' Woes Mount
Gatorade Drops Tiger Woods Drink

[Sky017]

The old (wise) people used to say: "Friends will take you far, but they won't bring you back."

REAL Friends tell you when you are on the wrong track, to take corrective action. So, maybe Tiger is learning now what REAL friends are... not simply people who you have fun with, but people who help steer you away from danger.

Maybe, just maybe... Tiger is rebooting his life... and choosing NEW friends. After all, "Show me your friends... and I'll tell you who you are."

[peetrerb]

Ohhhhh, did Tiger shun you! My My, Do you feel left out!

[p94932]

let him burn, cause im enjoying watching this fool fall from grace - the few, the proud, the chumps.

[bubbadubba]

Kitty Cat Woods is a chicken, loser, liar, and cheat.
Other than the new story about him using a doctor from Canada that carries around human growth hormones and steroids in his bag of tricks can we move on now?

[dontknowitall]

Tiger Wood is getting more print than Bernie Madoff and all Tiger did was cheat on his wife. He didn't molest any alter boys. He didn't have sex with under age girls from his cult. He didn't steal other peoples money. He stepped out a few times. What! he's the only guy that ever cheated? Give him a break.

[bubbadubba]

I love excuses for Kitty Cat Woods, too funny.

[fleabag75]

Agreed,, but remember the old adage about the heat and the kitchen? When a person loves being in the spotlight you can't just say 'keep me in a favorable light'. It doesn't work that way. When you're rich and famous you have to take the bad along with the good. Those are the unwritten rules. (I didn't write them)

[nowhiningallowed]

No celebrity is ever worth all of the worship that many give blindly. It's fitting that Woods has fallen so low. Maybe now he'll get his life act together and focus on what's truly important: wife, children, family and self.

[tmittelstaed]

I have sports fanatics in the family and after I saw how they reacted to Woods I always expected in the back of my mind that something like this would happen. I guess it's too much to ask that Woods be simply viewed as a great golfer, rather than as a sports icon. Of course, it's a shame that this happened right now since Woods had a very promising season, but the Golf industry really needs to get back to the serious sport of golfing, rather than this sports-as-entertainment nonsense that they have been engaged in.

Golf is one of the few sports that a person can pick up in their 20's and enjoy the rest of their life - it's a far cry from football, which is about the most useless personal sport you can imagine, since after most people are 25, if they continue fooling around with football they end up tearing ligaments and breaking bones. It would be a shame to see Golf end up like the NFL.

[troutfishyman]

Maybe some of those "famous friends" introduced him to the lifestyle in question.

[drthvader]

Omg! Everybody is still down on Tiger. His friends are both black and white and Tiger needs real friends. Apparently they like Tiger just because they like him. Go Tiger!
I am still a fan.

[Phxfire]

I wonder if you have a daughter. How much of a fan would you be if your daughter's husband cheated on her since they met and with at least 10 women after they married, women he paid? If he was a famous athlete would you forgive him at your daughter's expense? HE'S a pig who hurt his entire family, the last thing he needs or deserves is enabling friends or fans. He needs to grow up and accept that just because he can swing a golf club doesn't give him special dispensation to behave badly.

[rykatspop]

Yeah Charlie, keep stirring the pot with that big old spoon. Nothing like adding to the drama there Chuck. Maybe you should get smart like Tiger and shut your own mouth, too. Butt out, butter head, chowder brain.