High-profile public apologies

"Twilight Saga" actress Kristen Stewart issued a dramatic public apology July 25, 2012, for being unfaithful to her boyfriend and "Twilight" co-star Robert Pattinson, by having "this momentary indiscretion" with her "Snow White and the Huntsman" director, Rupert Sanders.

She joins a long list of high-profile people who have all felt the need to deliver a public mea culpa for their mistakes. Keep clicking to see who they are.

Tiger Woods

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

"I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated," golfer Tiger Woods told the world in 2010.

One of the world's most successful golfers, Woods took leave from professional golf after his apology for numerous infidelities to focus on his marriage, which later ended in divorce. He also underwent treatment and watched his lucrative endorsement opportunities dry up.

Anthony Weiner

"To be clear, the picture was of me, and I sent it. I'm deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife, and our family, my constituents, my friends, my supporters and my staff," said U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner in 2011.

After initially claiming a hacker had posted a lewd photo to his Twitter account, Weiner admitted he had numerous sexual relationships online while married. He stepped down from office after the apology.

Kanye West

"It was rude, period," Kanye West said on "The Jay Leno Show" about hijacking Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009.

Swift accepted his apology and surprised the audience at the next year's VMAs with with a song about West's much-spoofed faux pas.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

"There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry," said then California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011 after admitting that he fathered a child with a woman on his household staff more than a decade ago while married to Maria Shriver.

The couple later divorced and Schwarzenegger resumed his movie career after leaving office.

President Bill Clinton

Clinton warns time is running out for Euro zone

"It is important to me that everybody who has been hurt know that the sorrow I feel is genuine: first and most importantly, my family, also my friends, my staff, my cabinet, Monica Lewinsky and her family, and the American people, I have asked all for their forgiveness," then-President Bill Clinton said at a prayer breakfast in 1998.

The affair with a White House intern and his attempts to deny it led to Clinton's impeachment but he was acquitted by the Senate on Feb. 12, 1999.

Eliot Spitzer

"From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry I did not live up to what was expected of me," said then New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2008 after it was revealed he was intimate with a prostitute.

Spitzer, citing "private failings," resigned on March 17, 2008, in the wake of the revelations of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring under investigation by the federal government.

Mel Gibson

"I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said and I apologize to anyone who I have offended," said actor Mel Gibson in 2006 after making anti-Semitic statements to sheriff's deputies when he was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol.

The Oscar winner has since been involved in a bitter custody battle with former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva and has had several more of his "rants" made public.

Serena Williams

"In the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly," Serena Williams said after being fined for a profanity-laced tirade directed at a U.S. Open line judge in 2009.

Williams is currently competing in the 2012 Olympics in London.

Michael Richards

"I'm deeply, deeply sorry," said "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards on racist comments he made in a 2010 tirade aimed at hecklers at a nightclub at which he was performing.

The comedian's career never recovered from the incident.

Mark Sanford

"I've been unfaithful to my wife," said South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford in 2009. "I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina. It began very innocently as I suspect many of these things do, in just a casual e-mail back and forth in advice on one's life there and advice here. But here recently, over this last year, it developed into something much more than that."

Sanford resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, after he admitted he had engaged in an affair with Mar