The celebrity apology: It's an art form.

While totally insincere apologies have sprung from the mouths of celebrities for decades, the Internet raises the bar and practically begs for displays of artificial remorse.

Imagine the trouble televangelist Jimmy Swaggart could have gotten himself into if he'd had a Twitter account. And we don't even want to think about a MySpace page falling into Bill Clinton's fumbling hands.

Not to be outdone, today's celebrities have raised apologizing to an ingenious level. First, deny any wrongdoing. When caught, make up some lame excuse. Choose from: "I was drunk," "I was selfish," "That dog/woman/child/teen country star was begging to be treated badly," and so on. Finally, promptly record a video version of your apology for the world to see.

So the next time some celebrity holds a highly publicized press conference -- a la Tiger Woods -- to issue his or her mea culpa, remember it wouldn't have been possible without these five trendsetters.

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