After Chrissy Floyd was fired from USA Today, she stood by fellow reporter Deanna Russini’s comments about her holding hands with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.
“The first thing I want to say is that I don’t regret anything I said at all and stand by the fact that it’s all true,” the NFL journalist told Page Six in a statement Thursday.
“I’ve spent about half of my life working for USA TODAY SMG, and I want to thank USA TODAY SMG for the wonderful ride it’s given me. I’m very saddened that this relationship has come to an end and that my contract has been terminated because of this.”
Floyd stressed that he would “never say anything I don’t support” because he is aware of the “potential consequences.”
“Even if the situation seems dangerous,” she added. “Thank you to everyone who supported me before and after I made this statement.”
The reporter also singled out USA Today columnist Nancy Armour, saying it was “incredibly interesting” that she published an article about Russini “restoring confidence in women in sports.”
“But after saying what I have to say about it, I somehow can’t continue. And that’s not as an employee, but as an independent contractor on my own social media accounts,” Floyd continued.
“Regardless of what happens to me in the future, I want to say something: Don’t be afraid of the possibility of becoming a martyr for a good cause,” she said.
“In some ways I put myself out there in a way that was very uncomfortable for me, but I still thought it was worth doing.”
Earlier this week, Floyd spoke out about how Russini, 43, and Vrabel, 50, were seen holding hands and hugging at an Arizona resort in March.
Russini and Vrabel, who are separated, insist they are just friends and were at a resort with other friends when they met.
But Mr. Russini was removed from his seat when a photo of him with an NFL coach was published, and he resigned from his position at The New York Times’ Athletic.
In response to Russini’s resignation letter, Floyd wrote via
“We know who you really are and what you’ve been doing all these years,” she added. “It has a huge negative impact on women who have played sports the right way.”
Floyd also claimed that the reporter “got into an argument with other reporters in a Chili’s parking lot over his relationship with a married NFL coach.”
“That’s almost certainly all true,” she claimed, noting that “it was the worst-kept secret in NFL reporting for a while.”
Page Six reached out to Russini for comment on Floyd’s tweet, but he did not immediately respond.
Before he was fired, Floyd said he received an email from the company regarding his recent social media activity.
“We are contacting you regarding the issues caused by your X posts regarding the Russini situation, which have become their own news production cycle that directly ties USA TODAY to your own independent posts off-platform,” the email read.
The company noted that Russini’s “speculation” was unverified and warned Floyd that her comments were linked to USA Today “in several articles,” according to the email.
“As you can imagine, this is a serious issue for our company. We would never publish such things on our platform,” the email continued.
