Settlement

Washington Football Team employees produced secret lewd videos from outtakes of the 2008 and 2010 swimsuit calendar shoots. The former cheerleaders involved filed suit. Now they’ve reached confidential settlements with the team.

Cindy Minniti, an attorney representing the team and its owner, Daniel Snyder, said “The matter has been resolved” when asked about the dozens of ex-cheerleaders involved. Neither Minniti nor the attorneys for the women provided any settlement details.

The videos

In August, two 10-minute videos were discovered by the Washington Post and reported. These videos showed some of the cheerleaders’ nipples while they adjusted props or changed positions, and two cheerleaders’ pubic areas were only partially obscured with body paint. The cheerleaders retained Lisa Banks and Gloria Allred to represent them.

According to two former team employees, then-senior vice president Larry Michael asked for the videos to be produced. One of those employees said Michael told them the footage was to be made for Snyder. Both Snyder and Michael have denied any knowledge of the videos.

The allegations in the report range from 2006 through 2019 and mostly include inappropriate sexual comments, pressure to wear revealing clothing, and unwelcome overtures.

Complications and changes

An ongoing NFL investigation into the team’s workplace culture, led by attorney Beth Wilkinson, started in July after 15 former female employees said they were sexually harassed by male executives. A total of 40 women have come forward with accusations of sexual harassment by current and former team employees, some against Snyder directly. In 2009 the team paid $1.6 million to settle a sexual misconduct claim against him.

Last week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that Wilkinson’s investigation is “nearing its completion.” He said, “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 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.”

Additionally, the future of the cheerleading program is in doubt. On Monday, February 8, the team announced that it will “temporarily pause offseason activity of game day programs including cheerleading and music.” They said this is part of “the next phase of its rebranding journey.” This rebranding began last summer when they put a stop to using their team name, which was seen as offensive to Native Americans. They dropped the name because of pressure from corporate sponsors.

Team president Jason Wright said, “The time is right to reimagine our entire game day experience, to reinvent it in a way that reflects our modern identity and aligns with what today’s fan seeks.”

And then . . .

In a short video conference on Monday afternoon, and with only about half an hour’s notice, the 40-member cheerleading squad (those who weren’t at work or in class) were advised about the changes. One woman, who wanted to remain anonymous because she still wants to work for the organization, said the news was a shock. Top managers had assured the cheerleaders in meetings after news of the videos came out that they were “valued members of the organization.”

Cheerleaders were not allowed to ask questions during the call and received a short email from human resources four hours later. The email thanked them for their work and advised that next season’s tryouts were “postponed.”

“They said they had our backs. Then we were blindsided,” she said. “We’re wondering what they mean by a ‘pause’ and how long, and I guess it just means until they figure it out. Those videos and other stuff happened before any of us were on the team, and it feels like we’re being punished,” the cheerleader said. She and others have asked for a meeting with team officials, but their request has been ignored.

Usually, auditions are held in the spring. Cheerleaders are paid for attending practices and making appearances for the team during the offseason. They spend the summer practicing.

Cheerleaders didn’t perform on the field last season because of the pandemic. They put together videos that were shown during games and on the team’s website instead.

The cheerleading director, Jamilla Keene, held the only full-time job on the squad. Her position was eliminated. Team executives said she may be moved to another role. Keene has worked for the team since 2003. Sources say that Keene’s removal was not a result of the NFL investigation.

Wright claimed that the decision to re-think the program wasn’t related to the allegations made last summer or the NFL investigation. “Pausing all aspects of game day entertainment is solely based on transforming the fan experience in connection with the rebrand,” he said.

Backlash

Former cheerleaders, upon hearing of the disruption of the program, expressed concern that the announcement could be the beginning of the end of the cheerleading team.

“This is victim-blaming and retaliation for everything that has happened in the past few months,” Melanie Coburn said. She’s a former cheerleader who was the squad’s marketing director for ten years. “It’s harder for them to work on the culture of the organization than to just cancel the team.”

Washington’s cheerleaders are called the First Ladies of Football and are the longest-running squad in the NFL. “We have such a unique history, and to dismantle it in this way is egregious and unconscionable to me. It’s a sisterhood and a family,” said Courtney DeYoung, a 12-year cheerleader.

Going forward

The football team is planning to hire a “vice president of fan experience,” who will be in charge of the entire fan experience, including the cheerleading program, as it looks for a new name and improvements to game-day entertainment and concessions. They’ll be seeking information from the public on what they really want on game day.

“The offseason gives us the opportunity to rethink the status quo,” Wright said. “Over the last year, we’ve created an enhanced online fan experience, and we’ve seen how effective our new media properties and modern approaches have been in engaging fans even when they can’t be at the games.”

Banks will continue to urge the NFL to publish the investigation’s results, and he refused to entertain the possibility that the cheerleading program will end. “It seems that if you want to improve the game-day experience, you would first look at ticket prices, parking and food — not dismantling a popular and successful cheerleading program,” she said.