Tag: abuse

New report alleges Dan Snyder played major role in sexual harassment culture in Washington

A new report in Washington alleges that Snyder may have been at center of sexual harassment and abuse allegations.

A new ground-breaking story detailing sexual harassment and exploitation has come out in Washington, this time directly alleging that team owner Dan Snyder took part in some of the crude activities that he denied participating in earlier this offseason.

Separate from a report that 17 women had accused members of the Washington Football Team front office of sexual and verbal harassment, the Washington Post reported Wednesday that more than 100 current and former employees allege that Snyder has presided over an organization in which women say they have been marginalized, discriminated against and exploited during his 21 years as owner of the team.

Many of the women who came forward did so after seeing Snyder’s comments from the report last month in which he tried to distance himself from the situation and culture in the franchise, according to the Washington Post.

In the new report, The Post interviewed a former cheerleader in Washington who claims that Snyder directly humiliated her in 2004. Here is an excerpt from the report describing that situation:

One of the women interviewed for this story accused Snyder of directly humiliating her, the first such claim made to The Post. Former cheerleader Tiffany Bacon Scourby said Snyder approached her at a 2004 charity event at which the cheerleaders were performing and suggested she join his close friend in a hotel room so they “could get to know each other better.” Scourby’s account was supported by three friends she spoke to shortly afterward about the alleged incident, including the team’s former cheerleader director.

Another former employee, Brad Baker, who was a member of lead team broadcaster Larry Michael’s staff, told The Post that Michael instructed them to create a DVD containing graphic material from Washington’s cheerleader calendar shoot in 2008 at Snyder’s request.

The lewd outtakes were what Larry Michael, then the team’s lead broadcaster and a senior vice president, referred to as “the good bits” or “the good parts,” according to Brad Baker, a former member of Michael’s staff. Baker said in an interview that he was present when Michael told staffers to make the video for team owner Daniel Snyder.

It is unclear what will happen going forward, and whether or not the NFL will further look into this seemingly disastrous and destructive culture in Washington. This time around, however, it seems that Snyder will be more the target of investigation than he was in times past.

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Sports Illustrated report raises questions about Saints’ involvement in Catholic abuse crisis

Sports Illustrated suggests the Saints were more intimately connected to the local Archdiocese public relations response than they claimed.

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A new report from Jenny Vrentas for Sports Illustrated suggests that the New Orleans Saints were more intimately involved with the public relations campaign for the local Catholic Church following a sexual abuse scandal than the team’s management initially claimed.

Saints owner Gayle Benson, who inherited the team from her late husband Tom Benson, issued a statement back in February that said the team’s executive vice president of communications, Greg Bensel, was asked to assist the church in preparing its public response to allegations and the ongoing lawsuit from abuse survivors. A list of 50-plus clergy who had been charged or identified was released Nov. 2, 2018, with Benson describing Bensel’s involvement as having begun just weeks earlier.

However, Vrentas’ report disrupts that timeline. An email exchange between Benson and Benson added to the public record was dated July 8, 2018, coming a day after a local report from The Advocate on one accused clergy member. While the text of those messages remains confidential, the timing and its inclusion in a subpoena would imply Bensel had been working with the archdiocese communications staff for months, not weeks, before the list was published.

And that’s the crux of the issue here. The church’s initial list included 57 names, but it’s grown over time to 63. An Associated Press report claims at least 20 more names should have been listed, leading plaintiffs’ attorneys to ask how big of a role, if any, the Saints played as an organization in determining which of the accused should be listed and who should not.

With the trial on hold — the Church filed for bankruptcy in May — it could take time for correspondence between Saints executives and the archdiocese to come to light, if it ever does. Vrentas’ reporting digs deeply into the experiences of abuse survivors and their now-complicated relationship with the Saints, but it’s a tough read.

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Claressa Shields hits back at B.J. Saunders’ joke with self-defense video

Claressa Shields has a message for Billy Joe Saunders and all the women in abusive relationships around the world…

Claressa Shields didn’t find it funny when Billy Joe Saunders joked about hitting women in a viral video clip that prompted the British Board of Boxing Control to suspend his boxing license for the foreseeable future. 

So Shields clapped back at Saunders on Sunday in a video of her own on Twitter. In the video, Shields purports to show “all women in abusive relationships” how to respond to violent men. You aim for below the belt, apparently. 

“You see this bag here? Women, we may not be as strong as men, but we are smarter,” Shields said, as she faced a punching bag. “What I want you girls to do is when a guy goes here – a right hand and tries to come back with a hook, tries to put your lights out – what I want you to do: You duck, and when you duck, you hit him right there.

“You see where that’s at? That’s not the stomach ladies. That is the nuts. Hit him as hard as you can in the nuts.That should make him hit the ground and fall like that. And then you can get away from him. A tutorial for all the women in abusive relationships.”

New allegations detail Saints’ involvement in Catholic abuse crisis

The New Orleans Saints are involved in a lawsuit against the Catholic church, and new allegations suggest the team’s role was significant.

The New Orleans Saints recently were involved in a lawsuit against the local Roman Catholic diocese, which alleges the team actively helped cover up years-long systemic sexual abuse by clergy. Jim Mustian of the Associated Press reported Thursday that the lawyers representing abuse victims detailed the Saints’ role in the still-developing story.

“This goes beyond public relations,” accused the plaintiffs’ attorneys, “The Saints appear to have had a hand in determining which names should or should not have been included on the pedophile list.”

While the Saints have maintained that their role was limited to assisting with public relations work surrounding the allegations and lawsuit, these latest claims characterize hundreds of emails between the Saints organization and the church as helping to determine which alleged abusers’ names should be made public. Plaintiffs claim that multiple Saints staffers are involved, including Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Bensel. Whether Bensel acted on his own or under the instruction of team owner Gayle Benson is unclear; both are ardent supporters of the church and friends of Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

In 2018, the church released a list of 57 clergy credibly accused of abuse, but eight new names have since been added. The Associated Press report suggests at least 20 more clergy members should have been included. And that runs against the Saints’ own explanations of their role in the events.

These new allegations follow a Wednesday report from The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan that the NFL is not investigating the Saints for their involvement with the church regarding the lawsuit and the incidents that prompted it. The Saints are fighting in court to keep 200-plus emails exchanged between the team and the diocese private, arguing that the documents should not be made public so long as the trial remains private. Kaplan adds that the NFL does not plan on investigating the Saints unless those emails are made public and reveal actions that would violate the league’s personal conduct policy.

We’re early in this process, and this is very much a developing story. Check this space for updates in the days ahead.

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Saints issue statement regarding involvement with Catholic abuse scandal

The New Orleans Saints released a statement following an Associated Press report regarding their involvement in a Catholic abuse lawsuit.

A report from the Associated Press revealed that the New Orleans Saints are involved in an ongoing lawsuit against the local Catholic archdiocese, in which two dozen men have accused the church in being complicit in systemic abuse over past decades. The Saints’ role in court proceedings lies in 200-plus emails exchanged between team personnel and members of the archdiocese, including correspondence with Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Bensel.

Hours after this first AP report, the Saints released their own statement on what’s going on, characterizing their message to the archdiocese as an offering of full transparency and cooperation with law enforcement. Specifically, their core message read, “The advice was simple and never wavering. Be direct, open and fully transparent, while making sure that all law enforcement agencies were alerted.”

We’re just now getting very early insight into what will be a lengthy legal process, so the contents of the documents the Saints are trying to prevent from being made public is unclear. It’s too soon to speculate about what impact — if any — this will make on the organization at large, whether it means staffing changes, potential discipline per the NFL personal conduct policy, or Gayle Benson’s ownership of the team. We just don’t have enough facts to guess right now, and neither does anyone else. So check this space for updates in the near future.

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Miami Dolphins release Mark Walton after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery (Dolphins

Miami Dolphins released Mark Walton on Tuesday after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery of a pregnant person.

Miami Dolphins released Mark Walton on Tuesday after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery of a pregnant person.