Sports Media Watch presents the 5 biggest sports media scandals of the past 10 years. Much of this list comes from the past 12 months.
(Dis)honorable mention: Jayson Williams shooting (2002)
After NBC missed out on Charles Barkley, the network tapped Jayson Williams to be its lead NBA analyst during its final season covering the league.
But just weeks into his tenure as NBC’s lead studio analyst — alongside Pat Croce, Mike Fratello and host Ahmad Rashad — Williams accidentally shot and killed his limo driver. He was charged with reckless manslaughter, and NBC quickly dumped him (replacing him with Tom Tolbert).
#5: Deadspin’s ESPN “dossier” (2009)
Petulant as it was, Deadspin’s 2009 attack on ESPN had major ramifications.
After being misled by ESPN officials on the Steve Phillips story, Deadspin and editor A.J. Daulerio decided the appropriate course of action would be to “unload the inbox of all the sordid rumors we’ve received over the years about various ESPN employees” (Deadspin, 10/21/09).
Deadspin then proceeded to unleash several rumors about ESPN employees — from on-air personality Erik Kuselias to executive Jed Drake.
But it was Deadspin’s report on ESPN executives Katey Lacey and David Berson that had the biggest impact. The blog reported that Lacey and Berson were involved in a romantic relationship, which was later confirmed by Lacey to the New York Post. Just over a month later, ESPN announced that Lacey and Berson would be let go from the network at the expiration of their respective contracts (Sports Business Daily, 11/23/09).
#4: Sean Salisbury rumors, lawsuit (2006-09)
This is a complicated story.
In late 2006, reports surfaced that then-ESPN NFL analyst Sean Salisbury had been suspended for undisclosed reasons. Weeks later, cbssports.com reported that an unnamed NFL analyst had been suspended for taking an inappropriate picture of himself with a cell phone camera and showing it to “numerous, uncomfortable women” (cbssports.com, 12/27/06).
In January 2007, The Big Lead cited an “insider” as saying that the analyst in question was Salisbury (The Big Lead, 1/6/07).
Salisbury denied that the incident took place, but that did not stop several blogs — most notably Gawker-owned Deadspin — from frequently referencing the issue. Deadspin even posted an alleged eyewitness account from someone who said they saw the photo (Deadspin, 4/2/09).
After Salisbury was fired from his job at a Dallas radio station, Deadspin cited an unnamed source as saying that he was fired for “[freaking] out a station promo girl after sexting her” (Deadspin, 9/11/09). This was evidently the last straw for Salisbury, who sued Gawker Media and Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio for defamation, and accused Deadspin of a “long-running smear campaign” (friscoenterprise.com, 10/23/09).
#3: Harold Reynolds fired from ESPN (2006)
In July 2006, prominent Baseball Tonight analyst Harold Reynolds was abruptly fired from ESPN.
Reynolds, who had been with ESPN for 11 years, was accused of sexual harassment. “To be honest with you,” Reynolds told the New York Post in the immediate aftermath, “I gave a woman a hug and I felt like it was misinterpreted” (ESPN.com, 7/26/06). During an ensuing lawsuit, ESPN told a Hartford courtroom that “five young women had lodged ‘concerns’ about Reynolds?s sexual behavior” (New York Times, 4/16/08).
The divorce between Reynolds and ESPN grew ugly, with Reynolds filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against the network. At one point, Reynolds accused ESPN of racial bias, bringing up several incidences of sexual misconduct by white employees who were not punished as severely (New York Times, 9/8/07).
Reynolds joined TBS as a baseball analyst in 2008, before eventually landing with MLB Network in 2009.
#2: Erin Andrews videotaped (2009)
For years, ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews was gawked at by sports fans, bloggers and even her own on-air coworkers. And while that was mostly harmless (if not insulting and inappropriate), one individual crossed the line.
In 2008, Andrews was videotaped without her knowledge in a hotel room nude. The videos were later put on the Internet, and were overlooked for months. In July 2009, the video was posted on an adult website, attracting the attention of ESPN lawyers — which in turn attracted the attention of Deadspin, which in turn led to the story being picked up by mainstream media outlets.
This story was not confined to the sports section — the Andrews incident made ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS’ The Early Show, FOX News’ The O’Reilly Factor and FOX and Friends, and even CNN’s Reliable Sources. The Early Show, The O’Reilly Factor and FOX and Friends even showed video of Andrews, though blurred out.
The New York Post went even further, putting a still shot of Andrews on its front page and barely censored images of her on its website. ESPN later banned New York Post reporters from appearing on its outlets.
Andrews was off the air for over a month following the incident, though that may have been as part of a pre-planned hiatus. She later appeared on Oprah to talk about the incident, before resuming her role as a sideline reporter for ESPN/ABC. The man who allegedly took the hidden camera video of Andrews, Michael David Barrett, was later arrested and pled guilty to interstate stalking.
#1: Steve Phillips fired from ESPN (2009)
In late 2009, ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips became embroiled in arguably the most bizarre sports media story since Marv Albert‘s scandal in 1997.
Arguably ESPN’s most prominent baseball analyst, Phillips was suspended in October ’09 after his affair with an ESPN production assistant Brooke Hundley came to light. Phillips and Hundley had begun a sexual relationship in the summer of ’09, which eventually spiraled out of control after Phillips tried to end things.
After being dumped by Phillips, Hundley began harassing the Phillips family — leaving a “disturbing” phone message for Phillips’ wife, contacting Phillips’ son online, and driving to Phillips’ home to deliver a long, detailed letter (New York Post, 10/21/09).
The story became a tabloid sensation, and latest in a line of embarrassing stories for ESPN in 2009. Phillips was eventually fired from ESPN, with the network noting that his “ability to be an effective representative for ESPN” had “been significantly and irreparably damaged” (Sports Media Watch, 10/25/09).
Phillips ended up in rehab (for “sex addiction” according to the New York Daily News), and Hundley was fired.
