Dianna Russini launches her new program, “The Russini Report,” on Wednesday, streaming on BetUS TV’s website and X account, as questions swirl over whether she will directly address the scandal that upended her career earlier this year.
In April, Page Six published photos taken in March showing Russini, a former NFL insider, holding hands with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at a resort in Arizona. The outlet later published additional photos of the two kissing inside Tribeca Tavern on March 11, 2020 — six years before the Arizona photos surfaced.
Russini resigned from The Athletic on April 14. Five months later, the outlet published findings from an internal investigation into her relationship with Vrabel, concluding she had been “noncompliant” with the company’s standards.
In a recent interview with People to promote the new show, Russini did not name Vrabel or directly address the allegations, instead referring to the episode only as “this situation,” which she described as a “nightmare.” She did not explain what triggered the downward spiral in her career.
A since-deleted post from the account for “The Russini Report” suggested she does not intend to discuss the matter on the show: “Who is going to watch The Russini Report if Dianna Russini is NOT open with her potential listeners? She needs to come clean if she wants a shot at regaining trust.”
Cohn’s warning
Former ESPN “SportsCenter” host Linda Cohn said on Tuesday’s episode of “The Linda Cohn Show” that Russini’s new audience will expect candor, not silence, when the show debuts.
“There were a lot of people who didn’t even know who Dianna Russini was before that scandal with Mike Vrabel. Now that she has gotten the curiosity seekers involved, people now know who she is for all the wrong reasons,” Cohn said.
Cohn questioned what would keep viewers coming back after the premiere episode.
“How is she going to keep them after the first show? Because they are going to want to hear her talk about what her spring was when those pictures came out last April, and what did she learn from that,” Cohn said. “If she is smart — she doesn’t want my advice. But if she is smart, she would share the human side of her. That people make mistakes. That she made a big one and that she admit the wrongdoing.”
Cohn added that acknowledging fault, rather than avoiding the subject, would help Russini build trust with a new audience.
“Everybody makes mistakes. Maybe they don’t make that kind of mistake but people make mistakes,” Cohn said. “If she can look in the mirror and talk like that to her new viewers, and admit fault and admit mistakes, just maybe she will keep those people around each and every Wednesday on her new show.”
New ventures
Alongside the weekly hour-long show, Russini will write a column and serve as a featured contributor on Jon “Stugotz” Weiner’s podcast, “Nobody’s Safe.”
Russini credited Weiner for standing by her during the fallout. “In a time when it was easy to pile on, and I think people were enjoying watching my career fall apart, Jon was really bold and loyal, and he was a friend to me,” she told People.
