Infomastaro

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The Athletic senior NFL insider Dianna Russini is usually the one breaking the news.

This week, Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel are dominating the news cycle. The New York Post's Page Six published exclusive photos showing Russini and Vrabel hugging and hanging out by the pool at the Ambiente resort in Sedona, Arizona.

Russini and Vrabel rejected that their interaction was romantic or anything to speak of in individual statements provided to the New York Post. Vrabel called the rumors "laughable," while Russini pointed out that "reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues."

Russini has been married since 2020, and Vrabel has been married since 1999. The Athletic publicly stood behind Russini against the "misleading" photos.

Meadowlark Media's Dan Le Batard also delivered an emotional defense of Russini, who has regularly appeared on "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" for years, dating back to when Le Batard and Russini were both still at ESPN.

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“Everybody’s asking me about Dianna Russini, wanting me to say something about Dianna Russini, and I’m, like, really uncomfortable with all of this and sort of the dirtiness of what my profession has become,” Le Batard said on his daily show on Thursday morning.

"Where every time I'm talking about where it is that [Adam] Schefter and Shams [Charania] are compromised, nobody cares. But then they do this. This thing that’s in public that I don't want to give air because I haven’t talked to my friend."

Le Batard said he wants to actually talk to Russini rather than just text her "to see how she's doing because this seems deeply unpleasant no matter who you are, true or not true." He also added one reason it's particularly difficult to stomach.

"As hard as that person has worked for her credibility in that pit of sewage she works in, to have this happen to her doesn't feel good," he said. "But I don't know anything. And I don't want gossip. And I don't want to bother. I'd just like to know how she's doing because this seems awful. Like, it was so hard for her to come by her credibility, and now we're gonna do this [expletive]?"

Le Batard lamented that the media industry has become driven more by gossip than by journalistic standards, and he was especially upset by the double standard in the reaction to the photos.

"You're going after her, but not him, huh?" he said. "That's interesting. Do you know how hard it was to come by the credibility that she has as a person who has relationships in that sport, because you have to have relationships? You will fail at that job because seven people can do it, and they know all the other people who trust them, who believe in them. And so, they walk the line between friendship and conflict of interest, and how do you get your information?"

Le Batard then opened up the discussion to his co-hosts, Greg Cote and Jonathan Zaslow, and producers.

Cote, a longtime "Miami Herald" columnist, called the situation "grainy photographers that are innuendo without substance." Zaslow explained why the show wants to support their friend.

Le Batard continued to emphasize Russini as "the height of sports journalism" and sort through the sexist elements at play as well as the blurred lines between gossip and journalism.

Watch the full "Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" stream below. Le Batard begins discussing Russini at the 10:48 mark.

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