Alcoholics Anonymous writes the repair of a breach as a sequence of steps. Step 8: “Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”
Step 9: “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” Step 10: “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
On a Sunday night in April 2017, a passenger, David Dao, was dragged off a full United Airlines flight from Chicago to Louisville. The first statement from CEO Oscar Munoz apologized for “having to re-accommodate these customers.” A second described the passenger as “disruptive and belligerent.”
Munoz then called the event “truly horrific” and said United would “take full responsibility.” The airline promised a review “to fix what’s broken.” It stopped removing seated passengers except for safety or security, raised the payment for giving up a seat voluntarily to as much as $10,000 and settled with Dao.
On August 17, 1998, Bill Clinton admitted a relationship with Monica Lewinsky that “was not appropriate.” In the same speech he attacked the investigation: “It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction …”
On September 11, at a breakfast with religious leaders, he agreed that his first remarks had been “not contrite enough.” “I don’t think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned.” He spoke of “genuine repentance — a determination to change and to repair breaches of my own making.”
In November 1986 Ronald Reagan said he had not traded arms for hostages. His approval fell from 67% to 46%, the largest single drop for any president. On March 4, 1987, he spoke from the Oval Office: “My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true; but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.”
“There are reasons why it happened, but no excuses. It was a mistake. I take full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my Administration.” He named a new national security adviser, a new chief of staff and a nominee for CIA director. His approval recovered.
In America, celebrities are often considered suppliers, and their fans customers. Anytime celebrities make mistakes or behave in ways which don’t meet their fans’ expectations, they are expected to immediately issue formal apologies. Some of the more recent examples include:
Lance Armstrong – issued a public apology after admitting to using drugs to win the Tour de France seven times. Justin Bieber – issued a public apology after a video surfaced, in which the pop star told a racist joke. Reese Witherspoon – issued a public apology after being arrested for disorderly conduct.