Michelle Beadle bothered by women ‘blasting’ Dianna Russini: ‘I know a lot about a lot of you’

Michelle Beadle is most bothered by women journalists’ response to the photos of Dianna Russini embracing Mike Vrabel.

Last week, Page Six published photos of Russini, a senior NFL insider for The Athletic, poolside at an adults-only hotel with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Russini and Vrabel, both married to other people, quickly issued strong denials of any romantic relationship, but those denials have done little to stop speculation.

Russini resigned from The Athletic on Tuesday amid the controversy, saying in her announcement that “commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts.”

In the wake of those photos, previous comments Russini made about her husband and marriage have been harped on, while past professional interactions with Vrabel have been analyzed differently. All of it led The Athletic to place a hold on Russini’s reporting duties until they can complete an investigation into the photos and her relationship with Vrabel.

For Beadle, it’s not the photos that bother her most about this story. It’s not concerns about journalistic integrity or the response from The Athletic either. It was the response from their peers that prompted Beadle to speak out.

“I love Dianna, and I consider her a friend,” Beadle said on her podcast with co-host Cody Decker. “I’m not 100% sure I understand what two adults’ personal lives, other than with her husband and his wife, those are the two affected, and families. And I don’t want to hear ‘journalistic integrity.’ Stop. Just stop. I’ll tell you where I’m most disappointed. Poor decisions were made; we’ve all made them.

“What I find interesting is the number of female sportspeople who have felt very comfortable in getting out there and blasting her. Ladies, at some point, I will write a book. And the more I see you yapping out there about all this high and mighty self-righteous, I know a lot about a lot of you. So be careful. And by the way, I’ve made stupid mistakes too. I was just lucky enough to have done them before all this sort of social media, everybody’s got a camera life. That is a blessing. But let’s be careful on throwing stones. There’s also a lot of misogyny in how this is being covered. She’s got her job on the line; he doesn’t have his job on the line.”

The response to this story from men has seemingly been louder than that of women. But the silence and lack of people in the industry standing up for Russini has also been somewhat noteworthy. And while Beadle is taking the names of their peers who have not supported Russini, she didn’t name any.

Beadle might not consider journalistic integrity a valid concern after seeing the photos of Russini and Vrabel, but elsewhere, it has been the biggest concern. Russini has unfairly borne the brunt of the backlash to these photos, but it’s the integrity part that has her job on the line, while Vrabel remains safe.