Carl Edwards: Amanda Beard’s criticism came ‘out of left field’

Carl Edwards said he wasn’t expecting the unflattering comments about him in begrudged ex-girlfriend Amanda Beard‘s book, but he’s going to take them in stride.

Beard, an Olympic swimmer, dated Edwards from 2005 to 2006 and dedicated 16 blistering pages to her relationship with the NASCAR driver in her memoir released earlier this month, painting Edwards as a controlling and egotistical jerk of a boyfriend. Despite Beard’s harsh portrayal, Edwards said Friday he’s not going to hold anything against his ex.

“I’m not going to bash her or say bad things about her,” Edwards said at Texas Motor Speedway, according to ESPN. “She’s a mother, she’s a wife and someone I cared about.”

Edwards, who’s now married with two children, said he knew Beard was writing a book but didn’t expect to be thrown under the bus like he was.

“I don’t know where to start,” he said, “whether it’s the psychology of feelings about a relationship that doesn’t work out or the strategy to sell book. To be honest, it’s just weird. I don’t know how to address things that I don’t remember happening.

“I didn’t know what to think about it. It was pretty far out of left field for me. It really caught me off guard. It’s sad for me to read that and sad that Amanda was going though all that.”

Well, of course he didn’t know about Beard’s feelings. That was kind of her point.

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