Suggestive photographs of Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and reporter Dianna Russini at an adults-only resort were shopped to other news agencies before being published by the New York Post, Front Office Sports is reporting.
TMZ learned of the photographs prior to Tuesday’s publication when an anonymous tipster informed the website that Vrabel was seen at the hotel with a woman, according to FOS.
Staff at TMZ identified the woman as Russini, but while they deliberated on the requested ‘four-figure’ sum for exclusive rights, the photos were published by the Post’s Page Six, FOS reported. Additionally, FOS added, the source is not believed to be a known paparazzi or photo agency.
TMZ did not respond to FOS’ request for comment.
The source of the photos has been a growing mystery since the Vrabel-Russini shots were released by Page Six, showing the 50-year-old coach and 43-year-old NFL insider hugging, lounging poolside and laughing together at the $2,500-per night getaway. Vrabel, the reigning NFL Coach of the Year, and Russini, a top reporter for The Athletic, are married to other people with whom they share two sons.
They have each issued statements confirming the March 28 interaction in Sedona, Arizona, but are denying any improper conduct.
The drama involving New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and NFL insider Dianna Russini has deepened after an unfounded cheating allegation from 2015 resurfaced
The two visited a hotel, Ambiente, which is an adults-only venue near Sedona, Arizona
‘The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day,’ Russini told FOS through The Athletic. ‘Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.’
Furthermore, The Athletic has issued its own denial, calling the photos ‘misleading’ and lacking ‘essential context,’ while defending Russini’s professionalism.
In his statement to the Post, Vrabel called the story ‘laughable.’
While the sources connected to both parties said the two weren’t alone, Page Six reported that three separate eyewitnesses informed the outlet that neither Vrabel nor Russini were seen with anyone else.
When asked if Vrabel was with friends at the hotel, one eyewitness told the outlet, ‘No, he was with a girl.’
Per Page Six, Vrabel was at a scouting event at Arizona State University in Tempe on Friday before driving 125 miles to the adults-only hotel – which markets itself as a romantic getaway.
Vrabel is married to his wife, Jen, whom he met while attending Ohio State. Russini married her husband, Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt, in 2020.
Russini is pictured interviewing Vrabel in 2019, when he was coaching the Titans
Former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho speculated on the drama on his show Speakeasy
The controversy surrounding the photographs notwithstanding, their source is actually a bigger story, according to former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho.
On his show, ‘Speakeasy’, Acho speculated: ‘Here’s what nobody is talking about in regards to Russini and Vrabel. Somebody hired a private investigator. And why is nobody discussing this? You do realize an iPhone could not zoom in from that distance.
‘You do realize that those shots – those camera shots – were very peculiar and intentional. That was not a fan that just happened to be wandering through Sedona, Arizona, and it was like, ‘Oh, is that Mike Vrabel? And who’s that mystery woman?’
‘No, that was, as the article suggested, a spy who took those shots with the camera from a distance.
‘So first and foremost, what nobody is talking about in regards to this situation – the question I’m curious about is just who hired the PI, right?
‘We are led to believe that Mike Vrabel has been married and is currently married, and Dianna Russini is currently married. Not an expert in that aspect of it, but who hired the PI is what nobody has yet to discuss.’
There is no evidence to suggest that a PI had been hired to take the photographs.
