{"id":11300,"date":"2026-04-23T17:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/23\/espn-dragged-into-dianna-russini-mike-vrabel-drama-with-shocking-new-photos-new-york-post\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T17:46:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:46:00","slug":"espn-dragged-into-dianna-russini-mike-vrabel-drama-with-shocking-new-photos-new-york-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/23\/espn-dragged-into-dianna-russini-mike-vrabel-drama-with-shocking-new-photos-new-york-post\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN dragged into Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel drama with shocking new photos &#8211; New York Post"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Switch between CA and NY editions here.<br \/>The WorldWide Leader may now be tainted by the biggest drama in the sports media world.<br \/>The Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel scandal now spans the reporter&#8217;s time at ESPN after <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/04\/23\/celebrity-news\/dianna-russini-and-married-mike-vrabel-caught-kissing-at-nyc-bar-taken-6-years-before-scandal\/\">Page Six published Thursday newly obtained photos<\/a> of the two kissing at a Manhattan bar in 2020.<br \/>Russini was with ESPN from 2015-23 \u2014 closely covering Vrabel&#8217;s time as Titans coach from 2018-23 \u2014 before leaving for The Athletic.<br \/>At the time, Russini was engaged to be married.<br \/>Vrabel was \u2014 and still is \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/entertainment\/who-is-jen-mike-vrabel-wife\/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter\">married to his wife, Jen<\/a>.<br \/>\u201cThey were kissing and they were all over each other,\u201d an eyewitness told Page Six of the new photos. \u201cHe had a ring on.\u201d<br \/>The Athletic supported Russini unequivocally <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/04\/07\/celebrity-news\/new-england-patriots-mike-vrabel-and-top-ny-times-nfl-reporter-dianna-russini-hold-hands-and-hug-at-luxury-hotel\/?_gl=1*rspryd*_ga*MjAxNzA1NDQyNS4xNzUzODE4NTEz*_ga_0DZ7LHF5PZ*czE3NzY5NTgwMzMkbzQzJGcxJHQxNzc2OTU5NDI0JGo0MiRsMCRoMA..\">when Page Six first published photos of her on April 7<\/a> with the current Patriots coach at an adults-only resort in Arizona last month.<br \/>The outlet later announced it would be investigating Russini&#8217;s reporting, and the NFL insider then resigned from the website.<br \/>\u201cWhen this situation was brought to our attention last week, there were clear concerns, but we received a detailed explanation and it was our instinct to support and defend a colleague while we continued to review the matter,&#8221; Athletic Executive Editor Steven Ginsberg told staff in a letter after Russini&#8217;s resignation. <br \/>&#8220;As additional information emerged, new questions were raised that became part of our investigation. We will continue a standards review of Dianna\u2019s work that [the Athletic\u2019s Editorial Director for Standards and Editorial Quality] Mike Semel is leading.\u201d<br \/>Russini defended her reporting in her resignation letter.<br \/>\u201cI have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published&#8230;&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have decided to step aside now \u2014 before my current contract expires on June 30. I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.\u201d<br \/>Vrabel spoke on the subject for the first time Tuesday, saying he discussed the matter with the team.<br \/>He then announced Wednesday night that <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/21\/sports\/mike-vrabel-no-longer-thinks-the-photos-of-he-and-dianna-russini-are-laughable\/\">he would miss the third day of the NFL draft<\/a> on Saturday and would be seeking counseling.<br \/>ESPN declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMiswFBVV95cUxPeWNuYjY2eDQ0X2dzZUFqSnlybVFKSFNxTlFuYlFGOFdEYlpqNzNiNHVzUE9TdExFQ0QyNEFza2htdjJSTThqTFdpTU5XNVJOYVE3eVkzQk9XcTh2NS03TmJrdUZFaEtmSGJ2T0tUVGpUYTl1S3lnaHdZTnNfZnBkcVNtVGFxT2N1bDcxelBTdjEyOEc2TUZHR1c0enR0LUFnMncxY3FFM1Y5YUdHUnAwUDVQVQ?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Switch between CA and NY editions here.The WorldWide Leader may now be tainted by the biggest drama in the sports media world.The Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel scandal now spans the reporter&#8217;s time at ESPN after Page Six published Thursday newly obtained photos of the two kissing at a Manhattan bar in 2020.Russini was with ESPN from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}