A friend says Dianna Russini is “going through a very difficult time” after a bombshell photo of her with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was leaked.
Mr. Russini’s former ESPN colleague, John “Stagotts” Weiner, admitted on the latest episode of Mr. Russini’s Fox Sports radio show, “Stagotts & Company,” that he recently “spoke” to Mr. Russini and the sports journalist.
“She’s going through a very difficult time,” Wiener said. “She’ll survive this.”
Days after Page Six exclusively published photos of Russini and Vrabel relaxing at a resort in Sedona, Arizona, the sportscaster resigned from his position at The Athletic.
Weiner told listeners on his radio show last week that he would hire sports journalists “within two seconds” if they lost their jobs.
“If The Athletic fires her, she’ll be sitting next to me and Izzy[Gutierrez]will be doing the show,” he said at the time. “I support my friends, but I’m not going to bail them out, especially during the worst professional era in their history. I wouldn’t do something like that to them.”
The radio host also defended Russini, who has been The Athletic’s senior NFL insider since 2023, noting that “the whole industry is full of conflicts of interest.”
“Every take someone makes is littered with conflicts of interest, and I don’t want to hear about it,” Weiner added.
Russini worked at ESPN from 2015 to 2023 before taking the big job at The Athletic.
Exclusive Page Six photos published on April 7 showed Russini, 43, and Vrabel, 50, spending time together at the luxury boutique resort Ambiente.
Sources told Page Six at the time that the couple had breakfast on the hotel restaurant patio around 10:30 a.m. on March 28, then spent an hour in the pool and hot tub.
Later that day, Russini and Vrabel were seen holding hands and hugging each other in the private area of their hotel bungalow at sunset. Sources claimed that the two briefly danced together.
Russini has been married to Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt since 2020, and they have two children.
Meanwhile, Vrabel has been married to Jen Vrabel since 1999 and they have two children together.
In response to the viral photo, Vrabel told Page Six that he and Russini had a “totally innocent interaction.”
Russini, who officially resigned from The Athletic on April 14, said, “The photo does not represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day.”
Following the publication of the new photos, The New York Times began investigating the matter.
In his resignation letter, Russini said The Athletic initially “unequivocally supported me” after the photo was published and “expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism.”
But, Russini added, “in the days since, various media commentators have simply moved away from the facts and made their own speculations.”
She said she was resigning to stop speculation and damage surrounding the situation.
