Nearly two decades after a stalker secretly filmed her through a hotel peephole, Erin Andrews is still grappling with the cruel twist of that ordeal: many people blamed her. The Fox Sports sideline reporter recently opened up about the dark chapter on the Call Her Daddy podcast, and her words cut deep.
In 2008, Andrews was changing in her Nashville hotel room when a man who had been following her through her College GameDay schedule recorded her without consent. The illicit footage eventually went viral, sparking a legal battle that ended with a $55 million judgment against the hotel and the stalker.
But the public's response, Andrews said, was almost as painful as the violation itself. She recalled seeing newspaper covers with a still frame of the video, her naked body, under the headline "ESPN scandal." The implication, she said, was that she had orchestrated the whole thing for attention.
"[The public thought] I did it to myself," Andrews explained. "That I was on the cover of newspapers, just a still frame of the video, my naked body, and it said, 'ESPN scandal.' People thought I did it to myself for publicity or to help my career, which was the exact opposite of how I was feeling. I was feeling shame, like I would never get work again; I would never be taken seriously. And it was perceived [as the opposite], which is so sad."
Andrews, now 48, was forced by ESPN to address the situation publicly before returning to work. She sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a candid interview, a move she says was mandated by her employer at the time.
Looking back, Andrews believes the reaction would be vastly different if such a crime occurred today. "The crazy part now is just seeing how the world and perception and how people aren't, you know, judged like this," she said. "If a crime like this had happened [now], it would have been a totally different situation."
The veteran broadcaster, who continues to shine on game days—she recently shared an intense workout video at 48 that stunned fans—will return to the booth this fall alongside Tom Brady, Kevin Burkhardt, and Tom Rinaldi for FOX's top NFL matchup of the week.
Andrews' story is a stark reminder of how victims of similar crimes are often unfairly scrutinized, a topic that resonates with other public figures. The reaction to her ordeal echoes the playful response from Erica Donald to her husband Aaron's NFL return, showing how different personalities handle public attention.
While Andrews has moved forward in her career, the emotional scars remain. Her candidness on Call Her Daddy offers a powerful testament to the resilience required to overcome not just a crime, but the harsh judgment of strangers.
