The Defense In Erin Andrews’ Stalker Lawsuit Is Even More Disgusting Than You Imagined

Years after Erin Andrews had nude photos of her taken and leaked online against her will, her lawsuit against the hotel that allowed her stalker to have access to a neighboring room is just now making it to trial. It’s a long time for a traumatic experience to hang over someone’s head, and it’s bringing back all sorts of horrible memories for Andrews.

Any time a lawsuit like this goes to trial, it’s torture for a plaintiff. To deny liability, defendants make all sorts of accusations to place blame and diminish the character of the victim — anything to deflect responsibility. It’s why so many of these suits are settled out of court — the benefit of publicly shaming responsible parties isn’t worth the time it takes or the damage it inflicts. It’s a credit to Andrews’ strength that she has fought so hard for her day in court.

Even knowing all that, and with all of us prepared for a defense designed to shift responsibility onto Andrews somehow, the defense offered by the legal team for West End Hotel Group, which manages the Nashville Marriott at which the incident occurred, is a new low.

A horrifying, sexist low.

So, essentially the hotel is claiming that while they did allow Andrews’ privacy to be violated in traumatic fashion, the resulting publicity she gained from being victimized should mitigate any damages they would have to pay. It’s an astounding position to take, claiming that the incident that irrevocably harmed Andrews’ mental health was somehow a boon. It’s the legal equivalent of saying, “Hey, you should be thanking us!” It also doesn’t consider the fact that Andrews was also a rising star at the time and is very, very good at her job, so perhaps that had something to do with her career taking off after the incident.

Even though Marriott isn’t being sued as a corporation — they were excused from the lawsuit because they contracted the management of the hotel — the legal defense has already caused some notable journalists, those most frequent of hotel guests, to think about Marriotts differently.

Victim-blaming is as common as it is despicable in cases of sexual assault and harassment, but to see such a brazen instance of it against such a high-profile woman is still shocking. If Marriott has any sense, they’ll cut all ties with West End Hotel Group.