This one, went waaaaaayyyy over the line.
Are you kidding me?
A secretly taped video of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews in her hotel room, using a “reversed peephole” camera, showing her buck naked curling her hair?
When I got the text message from a friend I was skeptical. Yeah, right. Naked? Video?
No chance.
Of course I clicked the link he sent, and quickly found that the material had been deleted. I then started surfing around for more info.
Only then did I find out the full scope of what had happened. Her lawyers were all over it, and any website daring to post the video was in full retreat.
So I'm glad I haven't seen it, and I am not going to see it. Not because I fear her lawyers. Because it's wrong. And even if the “damage is done” so to speak, I feel like me watching the video contributes to the violation of Ms. Andrews and her privacy.
This doesn't mean that I still don't think Andrews is the smokin' hot embodiment of the ultimate “sports girlfriend.” This doesn't mean that a few choice Andrews pictures (clothed, while reporting for ESPN) are coming off of my iPhone.
I mean, I still like Andrews for the following 3 reasons, and yes, IN ORDER.
1.She's hot.
2.She has a fun personality.
3.She knows sports.
But wrong is wrong. Period. This was a fucking crime, perpetrated by an idiot who should go to jail for at least a year, minimum.
Good job, asshole. Why not just kidnap her like the Taliban? Christ!
I can only imagine how creeped out Andrews was becoming over the last few years at every event she covered. Celebrity in America is a rocketship ride, especially for those who are good looking. You may not WANT to be tabloid fodder, but ultimately you don't have any say over that.
If you are her and refuse to take pictures with fans at an airport, you are a bitch. If you are too friendly with somebody they might just go Joe Namath and try to slip their tongue past the goalie.
I suspect Andrews just wanted to get better at her job, maybe move up the ranks, and hopefully get paid more money. I once speculated that she might make as much as $1 million a year from ESPN. (Personally, she deserves it, but that's just me!)
I was laughed at by people who know ESPN and the TV business. She makes less than $200,000 most insisted. Which is still a great salary for a fun job with no heavy lifting. But who the hell wants to be virtually stalked at that price point?
Now Andrews is going to have to live with the thought of even more creepy intrusion of privacy issues. If you can't trust a high end hotel's peephole not serving as a voyuer's Trojan horse, then what can you trust? Airport luggage handlers groping her underwear? Restaurant waiters licking her utensils? Don't snicker at the thought. Some douchebag just reversed her hotel room peephole and got video to go viral on the internet.
She might even quit over this thing.
Maybe not soon, or next year, but quietly, when her contract runs out. Remember Melissa Stark suddenly up and leaving Monday Night Football? I bet she has some stories.
And of course, regular red blooded guys like you and me will take the brunt of the blame. If only radio hosts didn't make constant mention of her looks. If only we respected her for the journalism she provided, and not our own titillation. If only we stopped Google searching her pictures.
Ugh.
The difference is that I know the line of what's fair game, and what's not. Pictures of Erin in a tight sweater and high heels doing sidelines of a Big Ten hoop game. Fair game. If there were video of her getting smashed at a strip club and doing a dance in her underwear (there's not, so stop searching) that would be fair game.
This wasn't even close. Creepy. Criminal. Despicable.
Great work, asshole. You've ruined the whole concept of even having hot sideline reporters in sports for maybe ever. Hope your happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment