07/21/2009 9:55 am
Culture
Erin Andrews Hotel Video: Popular ESPN Sportcaster Victim of Low-Life Peeping Tom
Attractive Erin Andrews has had to deal with a lot of manly immaturity on her job, but now she's actually been assaulted. What does this say about women in sports?
Image: Drew Shealy/Flickr
ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews has to be suffering the worst kind of humiliation. Andrews has been the target of a Peeping Tom spying on her in a hotel room, and that Peeping Tom has posted video of her naked on the Internet.
There’s also news that the Peeping Tom video may contain a link to a virus in a Trojan horse that could be downloaded by users. Just another reason not to bother yourself with watching. The New York Post posted some photos from the video and Deadspin.com has more on the story.
"Although the perpetrators of this criminal act have not yet been identified, when they are identified, she intends to bring both civil and criminal charges against them and against anyone who has published the material," said Andrews’s lawyer, Marshall B. Grossman. ESPN is supportive of the investigation, and Andrews herself is receiving much support from those who know her work, with many saying it’s just another assault on women journalists — especially those in sports. Andrews is considered a "hottie" by many sports followers, and was voted "America’s Sexiest Sportscaster" by Playboy in 2007 and 2008. She has had to deal with some of the typical immaturity men can display when around attractive women in a male-dominated industry, but this, obviously, goes beyond any usual slime she has to deal with.
Maggie Hendricks writes on Yahoo! Sports:
Most Web sites have deleted the video under threat of legal action, but that can’t undo the fact that it was shot and posted in the first place. Nor will it change what could be a ripple effect on women working on-camera in sports. Until now, most of the attention around Andrews has been harmless fun. She is attractive, friendly and knowledgeable about sports, which made her a magnet for attention. Blogs were smart enough to take advantage of that. Her nickname is ‘Erin Pageviews’ because any mention of her is an automatic traffic boost. That sort of attention wouldn’t keep most women from working in sports. Sexual assault — and, make no mistake, Andrews was assaulted — will."
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What it says "about women in sports" is you’d better be ready for just about anything. There are any number of men out there who don’t think a woman’s place is doing "play by play." It just shows how terrritorial some men can be and completely narrow minded. I feel very badly for Erin Andrews. I know she didn’t desrve what happened to her and it would be a real gift if some guys would do themselves a huge favor and GROW UP.
The take on this story is that Erin Andrews was assaulted by a peeping tom in a hotel room so it is sports to blame. So women should stay away from sports reporting because a peeping tom took pix through a keyhole. Does this sound like a setup or what? Hotels have security cameras so this perp should be on tape. Sounds like someone has a grudge against her and wants her to stay out of the boys way. This is so low and dirty that I hope they catch the person responible and throw the book at him.
That reminds me of something TMZ caught on tape. Someone with a camera went up to Paris Hilton and actually put the camera up her skirt and snapped pix. She just shrugged it off but that lowlife didn t even care that he was caught doing so. This is getting beyond creepy and turning seriously criminal.
There was some pervert - a school teacher - who was busted a year ago in Byron Center, MI. using a mirror on his shoe to look up dresses. I could never understand that kind of sick satisfaction. If he’s that hard up, he’d be better off paying for porn photos, not that I endorse that. But you have to wonder about someone who’d risk ruining his career for something so juvenile. Heck, I shouldn’t give juveniles a bad name by tying them to this kind of wacked behavior.
Another case in the news I recall from several years ago entailed a man having a hidden videocam in the bathroom of his house. His wife left him, saying, "I guess I really didn’t know him."