NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps has acknowledged he engaged in `` regrettable '' behavior and `` demonstrated bad judgment , '' after a British newspaper published a photograph of the swimmer smoking from a bong . Sports attorney Ryan Smith thinks Michael Phelps should speak to public about his opposition to drug use . Ryan Smith , a sports attorney and BET talk show host , on Monday spoke to John Roberts on CNN 's `` American Morning '' about how the incident could affect Phelps ' career . John Roberts : What was your reaction to news of this picture of Michael Phelps surfacing ? Ryan Smith : The thing with Michael Phelps is , he 's not only been an outspoken athlete against drugs so he 's done a lot of testing , he 's been supportive of WADA , which is the World Anti-Doping Agency . But he 's really a guy of high character . So you look at this , and my first thought was , `` What about his endorsement deals ? What 's going to happen in those ? '' A lot of endorsement deals have clauses that say that you ca n't do bad actions like this , not only crimes , but just things that you do bad in public could result in the termination of your contract . So he could lose a lot of money on this . Roberts : Now he never really admitted to smoking marijuana . ... The United States Olympic Committee is n't going to sanction him , it looks like , but did call his actions disappointing . But to the greater issue that you were talking about , in terms of his endorsement deals , do you think anybody is going to say , well , this is the straw that broke the camel 's back with this guy ? He had one incident back in 2004 . But are you going to dump Michael Phelps because of this picture ? Smith : It could happen , and the reason why is because a lot of these companies that are sponsoring him really are focused on kids and how actions of their athletes affect children . So that can be a big problem . The other thing is , unlike an athlete that plays sports every year in the public spotlight , the Olympics for swimmers comes only every four years . So he does n't have that chance to rehabilitate his image immediately like a lot of other athletes , a basketball player or a football player would . So companies might say , you know what , let 's not work with Michael Phelps right now , because he does n't really have a chance to redeem himself . A picture says a thousand words , and how can he fight that ? Roberts : How could you turn this around ? If you were his attorney , if you were advising him what would you do ? Smith : The first thing I would suggest is a drug test . And I know that that 's not required . And I also know that he 's not really going to have a problem with swimming in 2012 . But I would just show that hey , I 'm clean , I 'm doing great . The next thing I would do is go out there in the public and talk about the troubles with working with drugs and really show the public that you are not about drug use , you are not about doing bad things in public . You are only about supporting the rules of WADA , the World Anti-Doping Agency , and supporting their drug testing program . So you can show that , hey , this is a minor incident , not a big deal . And really what it 's all about is remaining clean . Roberts : If you were to lay a bet , would you say anybody drops him ? Smith : I would say he 'll have some problems . I do n't know if I would say that a big sponsor would drop him , but I would say that a more wholesome-oriented sponsor might .
Michael Phelps would lose a lot of prize money , attorney says . Media has published photo of Olympic champion using a condom . Attorney Ryan Murphy would advise Phelps to get drug test .