ESPN denies claims it was unsupportive of Erin Andrews
ESPN released a statement Tuesday denying claims it was unsupportive of Erin Andrews in the wake of her stalking incident.
Andrews, who currently works for FOX Sports, is suing a Nashville hotel for $75 million for negligence in allowing a stalker to stay in an adjacent room and film her changing clothes in 2009. During her trial, Andrews testified ESPN would not let her back on the air until she gave an interview proving the incident was not some kind of publicity stunt.
"Because there wasn’t an arrest, because we didn’t know where this happened, my bosses at ESPN told me, 'Before you go back on air for college football, we need you to give a sit-down interview,'" Andrews testified. "And that was the only way I was going to be allowed back."
While not referencing the testimony directly, ESPN said it was always supportive of Andrews.
“Developments in the case have been interpreted by some to mean that ESPN was unsupportive of Erin in the aftermath of her ordeal. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have been and continue to be supportive of Erin,” the statement read.
In August 2009, Andrews was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey about the stalking incident. In her testimony, Andrews claimed ESPN “highly” recommended she appear on Good Morning America, the ABC show connected to ESPN through their parent company Disney.
Andrews’s stalker, Michael David Barrett, was arrested in 2009 and spent more than 2 1/2 years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to interstate stalking.
Andrews returned to ESPN’s airwaves after the Oprah interview. She began working for FOX in 2012.
