Dozens of former Washington Football Team cheerleaders who appeared in lewd videos that were produced from outtakes of 2008 and 2010 swimsuit calendar shoots without their consent or knowledge have reached confidential settlements with the oft-criticized NFL franchise.
Two former team employees told The Washington Post former team senior VP Larry Michael asked for the videos to be produced, and one of them said Michael told them the footage was to be assembled on behalf of team owner Daniel Snyder. Both Snyder and Michael have denied having any knowledge of the videos.
No details about the terms of the settlements were made public or shared by any of the attorneys involved in the proceedings. “The matter has been resolved,” Cindy Minniti, an attorney representing the team and owner Daniel Snyder, told the Post.
As part of the organization’s ongoing rebranding efforts, which began last summer when it jettisoned its longtime nickname, the team’s cheerleading program is on hold after the organization announced its intention to “temporarily pause offseason activity of game day programs including cheerleading and music” on Monday.
All of this comes as an NFL probe into the workplace culture in Washington nears completion. Launched in July after 15 former female employees alleged they were sexually harassed by male executives while working for the team, the investigation is being led by attorney Beth Wilkinson.
“I have not met with her yet so I don’t have any of her recommendations,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last week. “She is nearing the completion of her work. So she’ll be sharing that work with me and her review at some point in the future. To me, the important thing in the context of this is that the Washington football club has made a lot of changes already. They asked for this type of review. They asked for the recommendations on this. Dan and Tanya [Snyder] are going to be done making those changes for the football club. It’s really — it’s good to see that. But I expect that Beth’s recommendations will be something that will be added to that.”
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