Was Michael Phelps Narced On By Careless Phish Fan?

Even though it was months ago that Michael Phelps' bong-sucking photo captivated The World and perished many endorsement opportunities, there's still some mystery as to how the photo became public. One theory: Phish heads.

The men of On The DL discussed an interesting theory that popped up in January soon after the photo hit the News Of The World. It involves a message board poster named "Wswilli3" on the Phish-centric "Phantasy Tour" message board who on January 9th — weeks before the photo was made public — posted this:

My buddies took bomb rips with michael phelps last fall in Columbia, sc. One of them took a picture on his iPhone. His brother is a small time actor in LA, whose publicist said the pic was worth seven figures. Didn't sell it bc of karma and didn't want to be a rat. The kid will inherit WAY more than that so he doesn't need it. If it was me, consider it sold.

And in the humorous, totally spaced-out "Duuuuude, I TOLD YOU..."-way possible, "Willi3" returned the day after it was published to inform his fellow Phish heads that, yes, thatwasthephotoIwastalkingaboutman...!

d who goes to south carolina. Has had the picture for months on his phone, not knowing what to do with it. I started a thread on here a few months ago when the picture was taken. Apparently he lost his phone Friday night in Charleston. I haven't heard from him but talked to many of my buds who go to SC and they are all freaking out. I know he was offered 50,000 for the pic but couldn't bring himself to sell it. He is already set to inherit WAY more than that so he didn't need the cash. Swear to god this is true, just don't know who released the pic but it is he EXACT one that was/is on his phone. He was blazing with him.

Karma is swift.

Spaced Out Willi3 swears his buddy's phone was ganked (not his fault! Karma, man! Karma!) soon after the incident and then, miraculously, the photo appeared in a British tabloid after large sums of money were exchanged. But there is a theory that maybe it was Willi3's fault — that his descriptions of the party and the friend who took the photo were enough for one opportunistic Game Cock to know which phone to steal in order to collect the blood-bong money.

And the one lesson learned from all of this? Don't befriend Phish fans. They're like gypsies.

Friday April 10 [On The DL]