John Paulus: I Regret Going Public With Clay Aiken Story

John Paulus, the former Green Beret who told the National Enquirer about his one-night stand with ‘American Idol’ season two runner-up Clay Aiken isn’t retracting the story, but he now says he “regrets” going public with it. “I regret defying the trust of Clay,” Paulus writes on his blog. “I regret hurting him, his family and his fans; I regret that I started a blog that ridiculed him. … I apologize to Clay for that and I hope he will accept.” Though Paulus claimed to have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Enquirer to have them kill the story, National Enquirer editor David Perel tells Jeannette Walls of MSNBC.com: “Our reporter couldn’t get him off the phone. It’s not a situation where he told the story one time. He engaged in multiple conversations with our reporter. He couldn’t stop talking, and then he talked to reporters after it was out.” Hours later he said, “My story stands and I stand with it. No words I type or that pierce my lips will make believers out of those who choose not to.” This morning, he responded to Perel to reiterate he had sent a cease-and-desist letter to the tabloid.

Note: Paulus has since removed his blog.