ESPN has reportedly settled a sexual harassment claim against anchor Chris Berman, made by former ESPN makeup artist Sue Baumann.
The news was first reported by USA Today’s The Big Lead, which cited multiple sources. Baumann, who was represented by Gloria Allred’s office, made allegations about comments Berman made and text messages sent over several years according to an anonymous source for the site. ESPN decided to settle.
“Our thorough investigation revealed the harassment claims had no merit. We settled it solely to save a considerable amount of time and litigation costs,” ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz told The Big Lead.
Allred offered no comment and Berman’s agent didn’t respond to The Big Lead’s calls or emails.
Baumann started working at ESPN as an independently contracted makeup artist, but after two years, she became a favorite of the Sunday NFL Countdown hosts. She even travelled with them to the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl. Her connection to the show angered other makup artists at ESPN.
She became so close to the Countdown team that she had an extramarital affair with NFL Hall of Famer Chris Carter and the two told ESPN about it in 2013. Police were called to Baumann’s house twice that year, according to police reports The Big Lead obtained. On one occasion, private investigators who claimed to be hired by ESPN told Baumann’s husband to stop calling a particular ESPN employee, who was Carter. Baumann and her husband later got a divorce.
Baumann remained at ESPN until this past summer, when she was fired by her contractor. Then, she raised the sexual harassment claims against Berman.
As Biography.com notes, Berman has been at ESPN since 1979 and remains one of their best-known anchors.
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