After photos emerged of New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel spending time with NFL reporter Dianna Russini at a luxury hotel in Arizona, Russini said the photos were taken out of context and her employer has come to her defense.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
In photos published by Page Six on Tuesday, the coach of the Patriots and the reporter for The Athletic are seen hanging out poolside, in a hot tub and on a rooftop deck at the Ambiente luxury hotel in Sedona.
Two of the photos show them with intertwined hands and hugging on the deck. Both Russini and Vrabel are married.
In a statement to NBC News on Wednesday, The Athletic Executive Editor Steven Ginsberg said the photos are “misleading and lack essential context.”
“These were public interactions in front of many people,” Ginsberg said. “Dianna is a premier journalist covering the NFL and we’re proud to have her at The Athletic.”
Russini said in her own statement that many reporters in her field interact with “sources” outside of stadiums and work venues.
“The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day,” she said.
A representative for the New England Patriots did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Vrabel denied any allegation of impropriety in a statement to Page Six. “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” he said. “This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
Page Six offered conflicting accounts from anonymous sources as to Vrabel and Russini’s time together at the hotel. An unnamed friend of the coach told the outlet that the two of them were staying a couple of hours away and drove up to meet Russini, who was staying in Sedona on a trip with her friends.
Vrabel was in Tempe, Arizona, for a scouting event at Arizona State University on March 27, Page Six said.
Other witnesses, who were also unnamed, told Page Six that they did not see Vrabel or Russini with other people.
“No, he was with a girl,” one witness told Page Six when asked if they saw Vrabel with a group of friends.
Leave a Reply