Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, expressed openness to hiring Dianna Russini following the controversy over her alleged relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
“No-brainer, if she wanted to work here, we’d do it,” Portnoy, 49, told Us Weekly while promoting his memoir, Cancel Me If You Can, which was released on Tuesday, June 30.
Russini, 43, stepped down from her position as The Athletic‘s senior NFL insider in April after photos surfaced showing her and Vrabel, 50, at an Arizona resort. Additional photos and videos emerged, some dating back to March 2020, depicting the two kissing at a New York City bar.
Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jen, since 1999, while Russini married Kevin Goldschmidt in September 2020.
Although Portnoy acknowledged the negative perception of Russini’s relationship with Vrabel, he argued, “an affair is not like a murder.”
Russini has maintained that her relationship with Vrabel was strictly professional, and Vrabel has not confirmed any affair.
Portnoy added, “She’ll land somewhere, and you know, if people who have affairs are never allowed to work again in this country, you’re gonna lose a significant amount of the workforce. It is obviously really sad, but at the same time, that’s not like a capital offense that should end somebody’s professional career.”
On June 24, The New York Times reported that Russini referred to herself as “a former reporter” when contacted about a potential interview. “This has had a significant impact on my life, both professionally and personally,” she told the Times.
An investigation into Russini’s professional conduct by her former employer is still ongoing.
“It’s going to take a few more weeks,” said senior editor Steven Ginsberg to staff members on June 7, as reported by Page Six. “There’s just a lot to go through, and we obviously want to take our time and be careful doing that. We will update everybody when we get to the end of that. We’ve also said that if we find anything that needs to be corrected, we will correct it along the way.”
The Athletic initiated their investigation on April 11, four days after the initial photos of Russini and Vrabel were published.
In her resignation letter, Russini stated that she had “covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career.”
“Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete,” she wrote. “It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept.”
Russini concluded, “Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now — before my current contract expires on June 30. I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”
Discussing his latest career move, Portnoy shared with Us Weekly that the inspiration for his book came from a specific idea.
“I never really thought about books, but for some reason, the idea — probably due to my age — of walking into an airport and seeing my book in a window or a bookstore appealed to me,” he explained. “I didn’t realize how much work it would be, and I probably wouldn’t have agreed to do it again if I had to start over.”
He continued, “I’m glad I did it. It’s a pretty good memoir of a pretty crazy story, but yeah, I really think the end product appealed to me. It’s something we’ve never done. We’ve done a lot of other things, but books? Never. For whatever reason, it captured my attention when it was brought to me.”
Cancel Me If You Can is available now wherever books are sold.
