Boston Globe report alleges ESPN has a culture of sexism and sexual misconduct against women

A Boston Globe report based on interviews with dozens of current and former ESPN employees details the difficulties facing women that work for the network.
Allegations include inappropriate touching and predation from older male employees towards young women new to the network.
Women also detailed the loss of opportunities that sometimes came with pregnancy and taking maternity leave.

A new report from Jenn Abelson at the Boston Globe details numerous allegations of sexism and what is described as a "locker room culture" that runs through ESPN. Abelson spoke with roughly two dozen current and former employees at the network while compiling her report.

The women told Abelson about what they described as difficulties of working for ESPN, including allegations of unwanted touching and advances from their male coworkers. According to the women, the problems were most often from those who had been with the network for some time.

Current and former employees say the network still faces problems when it comes to older men preying on younger women, particularly production assistants just out of college.

"It's like cutting your arm in an ocean full of sharks," said one current employee, who said she has received unwanted physical contact from one colleague and listened to another rate women on a score of one to ten. "The second new blood is in the water, they start circling."

ESPN released a statement shortly after the report was published.

"We work hard to maintain a respectful and inclusive culture at ESPN," ESPN Spokeswoman Katina Arnold wrote. "It is always a work in progress, but we’re proud of the significant progress we’ve made in developing and placing women in key roles at the company in the board room, in leadership positions throughout ESPN and on air."

Abelson's report also describes what some of the women believe are difficulties keeping a job at ESPN, where job security has been especially volatile as of late. Some women believe they lost opportunities after getting pregnant, and worried about taking extended maternity leaves.

Abelson noted that many of the women she spoke with were emboldened to speak out after the network's short-lived partnership with Barstool Sports. Jenn Sterger, a writer and actress who had tried out for an on-air position at ESPN in 2006, tweeted in October, "Since we are being honest, I will say this: I HATE how Barstool Sports treats women. But the other side is JUST as bad." She then went on detail some of the harassment she faced during her time with the network.

During her months-long audition, Sterger said an executive showed her a copy of a Playboy magazine that she had modeled for and then she was taken to a strip club by Matthew Berry, who was interviewing as a contributor for The Fantasy Show.

The strip club outing was not a formal ESPN activity, but it followed a dinner with company employees and involved several male job candidates. Sterger said she initially did not realize where they were going and she was teased about being uncomfortable once there.

Boston Globe report alleges ESPN has a culture of sexism and sexual misconduct against women

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