Dianna Russini was at her home in Bergen County, New Jersey on Easter Sunday when a New York Post reporter showed up at her door. The reporter had photos. Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had been photographed together at a luxury resort in Arizona, and the Post wanted a response. What happened next is a story of crisis management, a desperate appeal to a CEO, and a coordinated strategy that ultimately collapsed.
According to a detailed report by ESPN, Russini immediately called a veteran crisis communications expert after learning the nature of the photos. She also reached out directly to Meredith Kopit Levien, the chief executive officer of The New York Times Company (which owns The Athletic), to plead her case before the story went public. She and Vrabel even coordinated on how they would each respond to the Post’s questions. Both are married to other people.
Russini argued internally at The Athletic that the photos were a sexist attack on a female reporter in a male-dominated field, according to three people familiar with the situation cited by ESPN. She told her bosses she had been traveling with a group of friends and called on executives to speak with Vrabel directly. The Athletic declined that offer.
The Athletic backed her, then reversed course
The outlet’s executive editor Steven Ginsberg led a series of internal meetings and initially chose to support Russini publicly. The Athletic released a statement calling the photos “misleading” and lacking “essential context,” saying the interactions were public and in front of many people. Ginsberg described Russini as “a premier journalist covering the NFL.”
The Post published its story anyway on Tuesday evening. It included photos of Russini and Vrabel at the Ambiente Sedona, an adults-only resort roughly two hours from Phoenix, where the NFL league meetings were held. In one image their fingers are interlocked. In another they appear to be hugging. The resort is a far cry from the league meeting venue.
The eyewitness account included in the Post’s report directly contradicted Russini’s version of events, according to ESPN’s reporting. Russini had claimed six other people were present, but none came forward. Athletic executives then asked her to produce supporting evidence, including text messages about travel arrangements, screenshots of trip planning communications, or photos from a hike. She never provided that evidence, according to three people familiar with the matter. It is also worth noting that this kind of behind-the-scenes pressure on sources and employers is not unique to sports journalism, and has echoes in how other high-profile figures have handled scrutiny in recent months.
By April 10, The Athletic had launched a formal investigation into her NFL coverage and the nature of her relationship with Vrabel. Russini was not reporting during that process. Less than a week after the photos first surfaced, she submitted her resignation.
Russini out, investigation continues
In her resignation letter, which she posted publicly on social media, Russini insisted she stood behind every story she had published throughout her career. “Commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts,” she wrote. She said she was stepping away not because she accepted the narrative around the episode, but because she refused to let it define her.
Ginsberg told Athletic staff the review of her work will continue under standards editor Mike Semel, even after her departure. Russini’s contract was set to expire in June, and she will not receive the remainder of her pay under the terms of her exit, according to multiple people familiar with the situation cited by ESPN.
Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a player and led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in his first season as head coach, has not publicly commented on the situation. The NFL told ESPN it would not be reviewing his conduct under the league’s personal conduct policy. He is preparing for the upcoming NFL draft and has faced no professional consequences.
The double standard has not gone unnoticed. ESPN’s Buster Olney said the situation should “open up a larger conversation about the potential destructiveness of quid pro quo” in sports media, adding it was “as bad as I’ve ever seen.” The dynamic of reporters cultivating close relationships with coaches and team officials for access is nothing new, though this case has put the consequences of that arrangement in unusually stark terms. It is a reminder of how quickly reputations can unravel when media ecosystems turn on their own, something that parallels the way public figures are increasingly scrutinized in the court of public opinion.
Russini, 43, had been one of the highest-paid reporters at the Times Company since joining The Athletic from ESPN in 2023. She was considered a face of the outlet, appearing alongside Times journalists at advertiser events and breaking major NFL stories. For now, that chapter is over.
