Prep school CEO Mike Woodbury has no regrets over controversial video
Mike Woodbury has no regrets after a video of him berating a basketball player went viral, he said in an interview with Stadium.
Woodbury, the CEO of Florida private school Nation Christian Academy, was caught in what appears to be a secretly recorded video. There’s no actual footage of the meeting, but the audio was picked up and you can clearly hear what he’s telling the player.
WARNING: Explicit language in video below
In the audio, Woodbury is heard speaking to senior Marvens Petion, who was intending to transfer. He has since transferred to West Oaks Academy, a nationally ranked school. The start of the transcript has Woodbury using multiple curse words at Petion, saying he’ll send him “back to Haiti.”
Petion came to the United States from Haiti when he was 15 years old.
Woodbury: What is this conversation about?
Petion: I don’t know, you tell me.
Woodbury: Me disrespecting you fake f—er? Just get out of my face. Just take your broke asses, I’ll say it again, your broke asses back to the garage. I don’t want to hear s— from you. Bottom line. The next thing I hear from you … just get the f— out. Just walk the f— out. I don’t give a s—. I control transcripts. I control where you go next. It could be back to Haiti, mother f—er. That’s how easy it is for me.”
You don’t … I’m the one thing you don’t wanna cross, cause I’m the dirtiest, baddest mother f—er on this earth. Like cause, you don’t want to … First of all, you can’t get to my level. You can’t. You can’t. It’s like I said when I came out and you tried to f—ing … You tried to get out and say coach Liz, and say you’re gonna f—ing, ‘I’m gonna show you this,’ and what did I tell you? I’m going to send your little …
The two go back and forth exchanging words, with Woodbury telling Petion to shut up while calling him a “stupid ass” and “f— face.”
In an interview with Stadium on Wednesday, Woodbury confirmed it’s his voice captured in the audio, but said he doesn’t regret his actions.
“No. F—, no,” Woodbury told Stadium after being asked if he had any regrets about the interaction. “Yes and no. I regret the fact I tried to be a father figure. It hurts my heart.”
Woodbury explained the reasons why he was so upset, alleging that Petion brought alcohol into the player’s room, had incidents of theft and attempted to extort school leadership. The “final straw,” according to Woodbury, is when Petion started skipping school.
Petion denied all of those allegations to Stadium, and said he only missed one day of school.
Been getting tons of texts/calls from college coaches about this prep school CEO, Mike “Woody” Woodbury. Pretty much every one saying the same thing:
“This guy is nuts.” https://t.co/RZXDse9qtO
The video was uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 30, but Petion says the recording took place about two weeks ago. He transferred from the school two days after that meeting took place.
In addition to the interview with Stadium, Woodbury released a statement on the incident.
I wasn’t going to say anything in regards to the audio clip that is circulating, however, I feel a statement is necessary. pic.twitter.com/iyi6sc2Ccr
Some important takeaways from Woodbury’s statement:
- He apologized for his language
- He does not coach the team
- He denies changing Petion’s GPA
- He says four other students and one coach were also present in the meeting
- The conversation lasted 35 minutes, but the video shows 3 minutes
- The Haiti comment was “not a threat”
As of now, Woodbury remains with the school.
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