Mike Vrabel talks about ‘difficult conversations’ he had during Dianna Russini drama
Patriots head coach Mike Vrbael spoke to the media for the first time since photos of him with Dianna Russini were leaked.
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Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of The Athletic’s editor-in-chief Stephen Ginsburg’s name.
Executives at The New York Times and The Athletic scrambled to respond to a bombshell report from the New York Post that included a photo of former NFL insider Deanna Russini and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, but what they didn’t initially know was that the newspaper had contacted Russini two days earlier, according to a new Times report published June 24.
The newspaper reported that Russini was contacted directly by the newspaper on Easter Sunday, citing a company spokesperson. She waited two days to alert her boss, who initially sided with her. Things changed when The Times, which owns The Athletic, launched an investigation into her earlier reporting. Russini resigned a week after the first photo was published, and other media outlets published more photos in the coming weeks.
A NYT spokeswoman said Russini’s first call was to Meredith Poppit-Levien, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times, and not to her boss at The Athletic. Ultimately, The Athletic’s editor-in-chief, Stephen Ginsburg, issued a statement of support, saying the photo lacked important context.
Daniel Rhodes-Ha, a spokesperson for the paper, told The Times in an email that the article contained “more photos than Stephen was initially shown or made aware of.” “The photos that were eventually published raised new questions about Deanna’s actions.”
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According to the article, Russini, who earns about $800,000 a year, referred to himself as a “former journalist” in a text exchange with a reporter for the story and asked that some of his responses not be published.
“This has had a profound impact on my life, both professionally and personally,” Russini wrote.
Both Russini and Vrabel are married to other people.
