It was late 2007. Oscar De La Hoya was the "Golden Boy." He was the clean-cut, Olympic gold medalist who had bridged the gap between boxing and mainstream stardom. Then, a few grainy photos hit the internet, and everything changed in a heartbeat. You probably remember them—or at least the shockwaves they sent through the sports world.
There he was. Fishnets. High heels. A wig.
It felt impossible. At first, the denial was swift and absolute. His camp called them "bad Photoshop." They hired experts. They fought back. But years later, the truth came out, and it wasn't just about a set of clothes. It was about a man spiraling out of control.
The Night in Philadelphia
The photos weren't a professional shoot or some avant-garde fashion statement. They were taken at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia. At the time, De La Hoya was deep in the throes of addiction. We're talking heavy alcohol and cocaine use.
He's been brutally honest about this lately, especially in his 2023 interview with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay. He basically admits he doesn't even remember the session. He was "roofied" or at least so intoxicated he was a "shell of himself."
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The woman behind the camera was Milana Dravnel, a model and former exotic dancer. According to De La Hoya, he was on a massive binge. She told him to put on the clothes. In his state, he did. He woke up the next day, the women were gone, and the oscar de la hoya lingerie photos were now a ticking time bomb.
The $20 Million Secret
When the photos first leaked via the website X17 and then the New York Post, the Golden Boy's legal team went into overdrive. They didn't just deny it; they tried to bury it.
- The Initial Payoff: De La Hoya says he initially paid $1 million to keep the photos hidden. It didn't work.
- The Slander Suit: After Oscar claimed the photos were fake, Dravnel sued him for slander. She claimed his team pressured her into saying they were manipulated.
- The Settlement: While numbers were kept quiet for years, reports later surfaced that the settlement cost him roughly $20 million. Part of the deal? She had to return the actual fishnets and heels.
Honestly, the cover-up was almost as messy as the night itself. For four years, he lived a lie. He'd walk into rooms knowing people had seen those images, yet he had to keep up the "Golden Boy" persona. It was exhausting.
Why He Finally Admitted It
In 2011, during a Spanish-language interview with Univision, Oscar finally cracked. "Yes, it was me," he said. "I am tired of lying."
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He was in rehab. He was trying to get sober. You can't heal when you're carrying a $20 million secret that everyone already knows. He admitted the oscar de la hoya lingerie scandal nearly drove him to suicide. He felt like he had nothing left, even with all the money and the championships.
"I asked myself, 'Is living worth it?' I felt like I had nothing." — Oscar De La Hoya, 2011.
It's a heavy realization. We often see athletes as superheroes, but here was a guy who was clearly drowning.
The Perception Shift
Fast forward to today. The world is a bit different. In 2007, the photos were treated as a career-ending joke. In 2026, we tend to look at them through the lens of mental health and substance abuse.
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- The Machismo Factor: In the hyper-masculine world of boxing, wearing lingerie was seen as the ultimate "weakness."
- The Addiction Angle: Most people now realize those photos were a symptom of a much larger fire burning in his personal life.
- Business Success: Surprisingly, the scandal didn't kill Golden Boy Promotions. If anything, his transparency later in life helped humanize him to a new generation of fans.
He’s even joked about it recently. On The Breakfast Club, he mentioned how the photos still pop up every few months because of social media. He just shrugs it off now. "That was a bad time in my life," he says. Simple as that.
Lessons from the Golden Boy’s Fallout
What can we actually take away from the whole oscar de la hoya lingerie saga? It’s not just celebrity gossip. It’s a case study in crisis management and the cost of maintaining a "perfect" image.
- The Truth is Cheaper: He spent millions trying to hide what was already out there. The stress of the lie was more damaging than the truth itself.
- Accountability Heals: His recovery only really started once he stopped pretending the photos were fake.
- Nuance Matters: You can be a world-class fighter and a deeply vulnerable, struggling human being at the same time.
If you’re looking at these old headlines, don't just look at the clothes. Look at the context. It was a cry for help that was ignored because the "brand" was too valuable to tarnish.
To really understand the impact of this era on boxing history, you should look into De La Hoya’s documentary The Golden Boy on HBO. It goes deep into the duality of his life—the hero in the ring and the man struggling outside of it. Understanding the pressure of that "Golden Boy" image helps explain why he spiraled so hard in the first place.