The Disturbing Untold Truth Of Erin Andrews

Sideline reporter Erin Andrews has been in front of the camera in one form or another
for over 15 years.
She grew up watching Boston Celtics games in Florida with her dad before she became
a Gator at the University of Florida, studying telecommunications.
These days, she's the go-to reporter for Fox NFL, recently commanding the sidelines of
Super Bowl 51.
But the 38-year-old has received flack from both sides of the aisle.
Men make lewd comments at her off camera during telecasts and women think she only got her
job because she's tall, blonde, and beautiful.
But there's more to her than meets the eye.
While Andrews' career is marked by hard work, it's also littered with bizarre scandals,
some serious dancing, and a whole lot of salty people.
This is the full picture of Erin Andrews.
Early inspirations
Andrews' father Steven is a six-time Emmy-winning investigative reporter out of Tampa, Florida
for its NBC affiliate.
His love of sports and his chosen profession laid a clear path of influence on his daughter,
who spent most of her young life in the Sunshine State.
Her father watches every game she covers.
On social media and in the news and in the comments sections of websites, people are
quick to say that Andrews' looks are what got her the job as a sideline reporter, as
well as a gig as a judge on Dancing with the Stars.
In truth, dance and sports have always been a part of Andrews' life, since she was a child.
But no better evidence of this exists than this clip of Andrews at her alma mater, University
of Florida, dancing with the Gator basketball dance team.
A wellspring of school spirit, Andrews was a member of the sorority Zeta Tau Alpha and
danced with the Dazzlers for several years.
So, Erin Andrews was pretty much destined for the career she has now.
The peeping trial
In 2008, Erin Andrews was filmed nude — without her consent — through a peephole inside
a Nashville, Tennessee, Marriott hotel next to Vanderbilt University.
To Andrews' horror, the video was leaked online, giving anybody with an Internet connection
access.
The former Illinois insurance salesman who filmed Andrews, Michael David Barrett, first
tried to sell the video to TMZ, who declined — but later uploaded the tape to the Internet.
Barrett was caught in 2010, when TMZ provided authorities with the email address he used
when first trying to shill the tape to the celebrity site.
Barrett plead guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Meanwhile, Andrews was awarded $55 million in damages — $26 million of which came from
Marriott affiliates.
While the sum of the settlement is massive, the damage on Andrews' psyche is significant,
too.
She speaks about the incident often, or is made to in interviews.
During the trial she was visibly shaken, saying, "Every time I check into a hotel room, I fear
he is in the closet, and every time I go home, I fear he is waiting for me.
I fear for my life."
The aftermath
Fame, or more accurately the spotlight, is something Andrews has actively pursued since
she was a child.
But when something traumatic happens, like the 2008 peeping scandal, fame can exacerbate
already difficult situations.
Her trial was widely covered, so she's discussed the incident numerous times on various outlets.
It's now an inescapable part of Andrews' public history, which is unfortunate.
What's worse is that ESPN required Andrews to discuss the incident before she was allowed
to return to work and the Marriott's lawyers forced Andrews to answer questions regarding
whether or not the scandal benefitted her career.
One of the lawyers for the Nashville Marriott asked Andrews if the roughly 16 million views
her leaked nude video received propelled her career in any way — whether or not her livelihood
"thrived" because of her new-found visibility.
That's definitely a case of adding insult to injury.
Sexism in sports
Sexism in sports is nothing new.
And for Andrews, who covers men's professional football, the storm of derogatory comments
from people on Twitter from fans catcalling from the stands is excessive, to say the least.
Andrews has been vocal about sexism she's faced in the sports world.
During the peep-hole video trial, Andrews referenced a more insidious form of discrimination,
saying, "Probably for like three months, everybody thought it [the video] was a publicity stunt.
To Fox News and CBS, everybody put up that I was doing it for publicity and attention,
and that ripped me apart."
Reebok controversy
Andrews received harsh criticism when, after the New Years 2011 Rose Bowl championship
college football game, she said on ESPN that the players were slipping in their Nike cleats.
On its surface the comment appeared fairly innocent — the type of quip that can be
heard regularly during the down time of a publicized sporting event.
Two weeks after the game, however, it was reported by The Oregonian that Andrews had
signed an endorsement deal with Nike's top competitor, Reebok, creating what many believed
to be a journalistic conflict of interest.
Talk about putting your foot in your mouth...
Snakes on a plane
In 2011, ESPN's senior vice president for content, development, and enterprise, Keith
Clinkscales, filed a preemptive lawsuit against Joan Lynch, an ESPN executive producer whom
Clinkscales fired.
Clinkscales was asked by a Deadspin writer to respond to allegations that he enjoyed
some solo-pants fun — on a work flight while sitting next to, you guessed it, Erin Andrews.
Deadspin never named their source for the accusation, but Clinkscales, likely in an
effort to get out in front of the story, assumed the source was his ESPN rival Joan Lynch.
Deadspin's account of what happened was that "Andrews saw Clinkscales [fondling himself]
in his seat, beneath his iPad.
When he realized he had been caught…
Clinkscales panicked and muttered, 'You know, I'm one of your bosses.'"
Clinkscales denied the account but ultimately left the company one month before the allegations
arose, and Andrews, scarred from her experience with the leaked video, never formally accused
her coworker of the act.
Cancer
Andrews has said many times that the key to her success has been good old fashioned hard
work.
From her early days as a freelance reporter to her flourishing career as a sideline reporter
for the NFL, Andrews does her homework across various sports and appears to genuinely love
her job.
That said, it took many people by surprise to discover that, in September of 2016, Andrews
was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer, but didn't miss a single game that year.
She opted not to tell any of her colleagues about the diagnosis, and two days after her
first surgery on October 11, Andrews was on a plane to Green Bay to conduct an interview
with Packers wide out Jordy Nelson.
She said at the time, "Should I have been standing for a full game five days after surgery?
Let's just say the doctor didn't recommend that.
But just as I felt during my trial, sports were my escape.
I needed to be with my crew."
By November, Andrews got the news that she would not need radiation or chemotherapy.
The whole ordeal is a testament to Andrews' determination.
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The Disturbing Untold Truth Of Erin Andrews

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