Wash Post Report: Former Washington Football Team employee claims “Lewd” video made for Daniel Snyder
(Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Washington Football fans are waking up to yet another day of troubling news surrounding the franchise, and it is something becoming of a weekly occurrence. The past couple of weeks have been quite turbulent for the team, from the retiring of the name Redskins, to the plethora of senior officials resigning or being fired, to the sexual assault allegations, player misconduct, and recent diagnosis of cancer for Head Coach Ron Rivera.
This accusation, another coming from the Washington Post, claims that an inappropriate video of behind the scenes footage of cheerleaders partially nude was compiled in order to be given to Daniel Snyder. The employee, Brad Baker, who worked under former senior vice president of content and lead broadcaster Larry Michael, told the Post in an interview that Michael requested members of his staff assemble the video for Snyder. Baker told the post Michael said, “We have a special project that we need to get done for the owner today: He needs us to get the good bits of the behind-the-scenes video from the cheerleader shoot onto a DVD for him,”.
The report also interviewed Tom DeLaney, Washington’s former vice president of production, who was stated to be involved with the creation of the video by Baker. He disputes the claim. He describes, “I was never asked to create an outtakes video, and I have no knowledge of anyone creating one or even being asked to create one….. I certainly would have remembered that conversation had it happened.”.
This is not the first accusation against Snyder of acting inappropriately surrounding cheerleaders and women. Past allegations allege Snyder made cheerleaders act as escorts for wealthy donors, withheld passports from cheerleaders in order for them to complete sexually explicit activities, and fostering a toxic work environment for many female employees.
Snyder has denied all allegations. He responded to the most recent revelations by releasing a statement, “I want to unequivocally state that this never happened,” and that he is “Unaware of the 10 year old videos”. He also states he takes “full responsibility” for the disruptive culture and organizational failures. He goes on to add, “Even before today’s article, I have begun taking any and all steps necessary to ensure that the Washington Football Team is an organization that is diverse, inclusive and respectful of all….. I have admittedly been too hands-off as an owner and allowed others to have day-to-day control to the detriment of our organization. Going forward I am going to be more involved, and we have already made major changes in personnel bringing in new leadership to drive cultural transformation on and off the field. In addition, we are assembling a world class team of external advisors to both investigate these allegations and create an actionable and measurable plan to change our culture.”.
The NFL said it is waiting for the results of an independent legal review of the team’s culture before taking action.
