The Scandal That Changed Erin Andrews' Life Forever
Erin Andrews was riding high in 2008. She was the golden girl of sports with a successful career at ESPN. It was Andrews' dream job, allowing her to spend all her time reporting on her life's passions: football, basketball, and baseball. However, everything came tumbling down after Andrews unwittingly found herself at the center of a horrendous scandal.
Andrews joined ESPN in 2004. She was a "College GameDay" host and sideline reporter for basketball, baseball, and college football games. During her eight years with the network, she became one of the most high-profile broadcasters in the industry. Andrews was clearly on top of her game. Still, her toothy white smile, long blond locks, and tan good looks meant a lot of focus was placed on her physical attributes, resulting in the telegenic host being crowned "America's Sexiest Sportscaster" by Playboy in 2007 and 2008.
It's an accolade that Andrews hasn't got much time for, telling HuffPost Live that she gets "salty" when her looks are placed first and foremost. "It's so funny to me because I always bring up the fact that people are so worried about what I'm doing or that I care about the way I look," Andrews said, pointing out that she works with an array of gorgeous men who are never objectified over their appearance. Sadly, it was a man's obsession with her looks that led to the devastating scandal that changed Andrews' life forever in 2008.
Peeping Tom trauma
In 2008, Erin Andrews' life was torn apart by a disturbing scandal involving a stalker filming her naked through a peephole in a Nashville, Tennessee Marriott hotel room wall. In a court deposition video (via Page Six), Michael David Barrett explained that he'd devised a plan to capture and sell nude footage of Andrews after seeing her on TV. He booked a room next to the sportscaster, waited for her to get out of the shower, and then filmed everything on his cellphone, which was pushed against a peephole. Barrett said he had carried out his "pretty ill-conceived plan" because he needed money. However, things went awry after TMZ refused to buy the footage, and he was forced to post it online himself in 2009.
Andrews was understandably horrified. She filed a $75 million lawsuit against the Marriott, which led to a tense 2016 courtroom battle. Andrews' trial testimony revealed the full extent of her trauma. Per ABC, Andrews admitted to experiencing depression, anxiety, and daily panic attacks. Adding further to the nightmare was the slew of reports claiming that the footage was part of a publicity stunt she'd orchestrated. The material was eventually taken down, but as everyone knows, what's posted online stays online. According to a computer expert who testified at the trial (via the HuffPost), the naked photos of Andrews were viewed 17 million times. In addition, tabloids ran censored versions of the images on their front pages.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
Moving on
Erin Andrews admitted she will never fully recover from the peephole video incident. "I'll always need to get treatment for this," she said in testimony during her $75 million lawsuit against the Marriott Hotel chain and her stalker, Michael David Barrett (via CBS News). "Always going to need to talk to somebody about this because this will always be on the internet. This will always be there; this will always be a reminder."
Erin's father testified that his daughter was left permanently scarred. "She's afraid," Steven Andrews said (via the Associated Press). "She's afraid of crowds, afraid of people. She doesn't trust anymore," he continued. Michael David Barrett served 20 months in federal prison for secretly filming Erin. He was also ordered to pay her $28 million, although, in reality, that's never going to happen. The Tennessean pointed out that Barrett has no assets, and even if Erin attempted to garnish his wages, the amount she could claim would be capped at 25%. The judge also ordered the Marriott Hotel group to pay Erin $27 million for its security breach.
Meanwhile, after five years of dating, Erin married Jarret Stoll in 2017 and welcomed a baby via surrogate in 2023. The sportscaster told Today that she was praying her son's arrival would lead to her slowing down. "I hope it makes me take a huge breath and be like, 'alright, chill out,'" Andrews admitted.