Sportscaster Erin Andrews was a rising star in 2008 and she had been working for ESPN network covering the most important sports event. Michael David Barrett, who was in a very bad economic situation back then, thought that he could earn a lot of money taking advantage of Andrews fame and started stalking her.
In 2008, Barrett requested a room next to Andrews’ at the Nashville Marriott and drilled a peephole hole into her room. He filmed her naked, and when he failed to sell the video at TMZ website, he leaked the video online.
Barrett was arrested and plead guilty to interstate stalking charges in 2009. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
This week Andrews is in court, suing her convicted stalker Michael David Barrett, the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University, and the hotel’s owner and management company for $75 million in damages.
On the stand, Andrews talked about the heartbreak and helplessness she felt when she saw the video, and feels even still today.
After the naked footage went viral, many media implied or explicitly said that it was merely a publicity stunt.
“Probably for three months, everybody thought it was a publicity stunt,” Andrews said, choking up. “That ripped me apart.”
Andrews said, “I wanted to be the girl next door who loved sports, and now I’m the girl with a hotel scandal… It’s on the internet now… It’s going to be on the Interent until I die.”
“She’s mad,” her father, Steven Andrews, said during his testimony. “She’s terrified. She’s depressed. She cries. She’s full of anxiety. She’s a very, very changed person. She’s not the girl that we used to know at all.”
