UPDATE: White House Calls Yacht Holiday By BP's Hayward 'Big Mistake'

(Updates with additional comments) WASHINGTON (AFP)--The White House on Sunday slammed BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) Chief Executive Tony Hayward's attendance at a yachting race as an ill-timed "big mistake," with the livelihoods of Gulf of Mexico residents still threatened by a massive oil spill. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was scathing in his criticism of Hayward, who was photographed Saturday watching a yacht race off the Isle of Wight one day after being removed from day-to-day responsibility for the disaster. "Well, to quote Tony Hayward, he has got his life back, he would say," Emanuel said in an interview with ABC's "This Week." "I think we can all conclude that Tony Hayward is not going to have a second career in PR consulting," he said. "Now this is a mistake and it's a big mistake, like others he has done in the sense when he said himself, he has got his life back. Emanuel added: "What's more important is, do the people down there in that area have their life back? Do they have their livelihood back?" (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 20, 2010 10:05 ET (14:05 GMT)