On Tuesday, The Big Lead reported a story involving a makeup artist’s sexual harassment claim against ESPN. The claim was recently settled, though there are no details to that end. According to information obtained by The Big Lead, the woman, Sue Baumann, made allegations against NFL Countdown host and former SportsCenter anchor Chris Berman.
To be clear, Baumann is/was not an employee of ESPN. She worked for a company that was contracted (presumably) to do makeup. As time went on and Baumann felt more comfortable in her role, she became a staple of the NFL Countdown set, oftentimes traveling with the show to various locations. That’s when she allegedly struck up a relationship with one of the other hosts, Cris Carter. It ultimately ended her marriage, and, at one point, her husband was approached by private investigators for calling and harassing an employee at ESPN.
Bizarre.
But back to Berman, who was allegedly the focus of the claims. ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz confirmed the suit, saying, “Our thorough investigation revealed the harassment claims had no merit. We settled it solely to save a considerable amount of time and litigation costs.”
Years ago, an anonymous (and perhaps disgruntled) ESPN employee uploaded some rather scathing videos of Chris Berman; behind-the-scenes B-roll type stuff. Here’s one where he goes back-and-forth, flirting with a girl named “Rebecca.”
