THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS
CHEERLEADERS ARE SPEAKING OUT AGAINST TEAM MANAGEMENT SAYING
THAT THEY HAVE BEEN PLACED IN UNSAFE AND ALSO UNCOMFORTABLE
SITUATIONS, SUCH GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, DURING A TRIP TO COSTA
RICA FOR A CALENDAR PHOTO SHOOT, MANY OF THE MALE TEAM SPONSORS
WERE PRESENT DURING THE PHOTO SHOOT WHICH WAS NOT COMMUNICATED
TO THEM PRIOR AND THE WOMEN IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE WERE NUDE.
THEY WERE ALSO ASKED BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE TEAM TO ESCORT
SOME OF THESE MALE TEAM SPONSORS TO NIGHTCLUBS.
IN RESPONSE TO
THIS, THIS IS WHAT ONE CHEERLEADER HAD TO SAY:
SHE IS REFERRING TO ASKING TO BE ESCORTS TO NIGHTCLUBS FOR SOME
OF THE MAIL SPONSORS.
SHE ALSO SAYS THAT SOME OF THE WOMEN WERE
CRYING NEVER SO DEVASTATED THAT THIS WAS HAPPENING AND ONE OF
THE REASONS FOR THIS DEVASTATION IS THAT THEY EXPLAINED THAT
NOWHERE IN THEIR CONTRACTS DID THEY STATE THAT THEY WOULD BE
REQUIRED TO ACT AS ESCORTS OR TO POSE NUDE IN FRONT OF OTHER
SPONSORS.
IT SIMPLY WASN'T THERE SO THEIR EXPECTATIONS WERE
MISALIGNED, AND IT IS REALLY UNFORTUNATE TO HEAR BECAUSE THIS
IS NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS JUST IN SPORTS, IT HAPPENS IN
MANY DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES AND WE ARE GETTING MORE AND MORE
OF THESE STORIES COMING OUT AS WELL.
YEAH, THIS IS INTERESTING BECAUSE THIS PROFESSION OF BEING
A CHEERLEADER, IT IS SEXUALIZED ALREADY AND SO YOU HAVE THE
CALENDAR SHOE ASSOCIATED WITH SO MANY TEAMS AND YOU HAD THESE
BEAUTIFUL WOMEN WHO ARE FACES OF THE TEAM, SO THERE IS THAT WHICH
ALREADY CLOUDS THE WATER BUT LET'S BE CLEAR, THAT DOES NOT
MEAN EVERYONE IS INVOLVED IN SOME SEXY MODELING FOR THESE
TEAMS SHOULD BE SUBJECTED TO THESE OTHER KINDS OF EXERCISES
WHICH ARE CLEARLY ASSOCIATED WITH STUFF THAT IS WAY PAST THE
LINE AND NOW YOU GET TO THE OTHER THING AS WAS AT WAS
SAYING, YOU FIND IN OTHER WALKS OF LIFE AND THAT IS ASSOCIATED
WITH SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND WITH WANTING TO KEEP YOUR JOB, PROUD
TO REPRESENT THE TEAM, LET'S SAY, YET KNOWING THAT IF YOU
DON'T GO DO THIS, THAT YOUR POSITION ON THE TEAM IS GOING TO
BE AFFECTED AND SO YOU REALIZE THAT THE PRESSURE,
PROFESSIONAL PRESSURES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS
SEXUALIZED JOB QUICKLY GET INTO DANGEROUS TERRITORY.
SPEAKING OF THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS MORE SPECIFICALLY, THEY
DID SOME REALLY GROTESQUE THINGS.
FOR EXAMPLE, THEY PUT
UP ON THEIR WEBSITE AND INTERACTIVE HOT OR NOT WHERE
THEY HAD PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CHEERLEADERS AND HAD PEOPLE
SIMPLY RATE THEM.
YOU CAN SEE THAT HERE.
NOW, THEY ARE NO
LONGER ON THE SITE.
I THINK THEY GOT ENOUGH BACKLASH TO
REMOVE THEM BUT THIS IS REALLY UNFORTUNATE THAT THIS IS THE WAY
THEY TREAT THE LIFE AND SPIRIT OF THEIR TEAM THAT IS
SUPPOSED TO CHEER ON THEIR PLAYERS STOCK.
AND THAT ENCOURAGED THOSE INSANE BEAUTY STANDARDS WHICH
THEY WERE GOING TO BE JUDGED FOR ON THE SITE AND IN REAL LIFE LED
TO LAXATIVE ABUSE, NOT JUST BODY IMAGE ISSUES.
IN THEIR CONTRACT THAT ACTUALLY STATES THEY ARE
NOT ALLOWED TO GO MORE THAN A FEW POUNDS UP AND WAIT.
THERE IS EXTREME PRESSURE.
WHICH IS ALSO REALLY ABYSMAL BECAUSE YOU FIND OUT LATER, I
DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALL ARE AWARE AND ACTUALLY I'M NOT SO
SURE ABOUT NFL CHEERLEADERS, BUT I DO KNOW IN BA
CHEERLEADERS, THEY DO NOT GET PAID REALLY WELL AT ALL.
THEY WERE ACTUALLY NOT PAID FOR THE TIME THEY WERE
SPENT SHOOTING THE CALENDAR SO A LOT OF THESE ACTIVITIES ARE
SIMPLY NOT COMPENSATED.
THEY ARE ON THEIR OWN TIME BUT THEY ARE EXPECTED AS PART
OF THE JOB.
IN THEIR OUTSOURCED TO WEALTHY SPONSORS OR DONORS.
SOME EITHER TRY TO RECOUP THEIR MONEY LATER.
IT IS AWFUL.
WOMEN ARE BEING USED AS A PAUSE POND FOR A BUSINESS AND ALSO
LET'S NOT FORGET THAT THIS TEAM IS STILL CALLED THE REDSKINS
WHICH WE NEED TO RE-ABOUT YOU WAIT THAT ASAP.
THESE WOMEN'S
PASSPORTS WERE COMPENSATED.
THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE DO WITH
PEOPLE FROM THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES.
THEY COMPENSATE
THEIR PASSPORTS IN PLACES LIKE THE PERSIAN GULF AND WE SEE THAT
AS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, RIGHTS AND MOVED TO TRAVEL, TO
HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR OWN PRIVATE PROPERTY WHICH YOUR PASSPORT IS,
SO ALL KINDS OF CRAZY VIOLATIONS AND I WONDER, AFTER READING
THROUGH THE DETAILS OF THE STORY AND IT TAKES PLACE IN 2013,
OF COURSE STILL THE COMPANY CULTURE PROBABLY STILL IN
SUPPORTS AND EMBRACES THIS KIND OF LIFESTYLE.
I WONDER, IS THERE A PLACE FOR THESE TYPE OF CHEERLEADERS
IN THIS ERA?
RIGHT, THAT IS A DECENT QUESTION AND BECAUSE IT IS THE
NFL, THAT IS SUCH A POWERFUL BRANDS, THERE ARE A LOT OF WOMEN
AND MEN, I THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF MEN WHO ALSO EXIST IN THE
SQUADS BUT GENERALLY IT IS WOMEN WHO WANT TO BE ON THE SIDELINES.
THEY WANTED CHEER ON THE NFL TEAM BECAUSE AS I SAY, IT IS
SUCH A HIGH-PROFILE THING BUT IN GENERAL, IF YOU READ, THEY ARE
PAID, EVEN WHEN THE DEMANDS FOR SOME PAYMENT WERE FINALLY
EXCEEDED, IT WAS $50 A WEEK OR SOMETHING THEY WERE BEING PAID
AND IN THE CASE OF THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS CHEERLEADERS,
THEY HAD TO BUY THEIR UNIFORMS.
I THINK THAT IS ACTUALLY NOT
THAT UNCOMMON SO THEY ARE ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY FROM THESE
PEOPLE THAT THEY PAY NOTHING TO AND THEN YOU ADD TO IT THIS
REALLY CD ASPECT OF THE JOB.
I MEAN, THE TALES OF THIS ARE
PRETTY GROSS.
THEY ARE ON THE ROAD, THEY HAVE TO GO ON THIS
GUYS YACHT.
HE HAS A LOT OF MONEY AND AGAIN, THEY DO NOT
HAVE TO BUT THERE IS A LOT OF PRESSURE TO AND YOU HAD THE
SENSE THAT IF YOU DO NOT PARTICIPATE, THERE WILL BE
REPERCUSSIONS AND THEN, IN THE CASE OF ONE WOMAN'S ACCOUNT,
THEY WERE TOLD IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY, YOU SHOULD GO ON TO
THIS RICH GUYS GOT BECAUSE HE HAS A LOT OF MONEY AND YOU CAN
MAKE MONEY.
THERE IS AN UNDERTOW HERE OF SOME PRETTY GROSS STUFF
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FRANKLY PRETTY WHOLESOME, WHAT IS
TRADITIONALLY BEEN FAIRLY WHOLESOME AND INNOCUOUS
KIND OF JOB.
I CAN TELL YOU BY THE EXPERIENCES OF THE CHEERLEADERS
AT MY HIGH SCHOOL THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF CD MEN THAT WERE
HANGING AROUND, INCLUDING THE FORMER WRESTLING COACH WHO WAS
MYSTERIOUSLY GONE FOR SIX MONTHS AND THEN CAME BACK BECAUSE
THEY FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOME OF THEM.
AND UNFORTUNATELY IT IS NOT JUST THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS,
THERE ARE OTHER SCANDALS AND LAWSUITS BEING FILED BY NEW
ORLEANS SAINTS CHEERLEADERS, BY THE MIAMI DOLPHINS FORMER MIAMI
DOLPHINS CHEERLEADER AS WELL.
HE GOES ON AND ON.
THE NFL IS
BEING SUED AS WELL.
UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS A PROBLEM
THAT GOES BEYOND THIS TEAM AND BEYOND THIS INDUSTRY BUT AT
LEAST WE'RE NOW GETTING TO SEE THESE DORIES.
THIS IS BACK IN
2013 THAT THE CHEERLEADERS FINALLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY I
WOULD SAY TO PUBLICLY TALK ABOUT THIS PERHAPS WITHOUT FEARING AS
MUCH RETALIATION HAVING SPOKEN ABOUT THIS IN 2013.
QUICKLY
JUST SAY ONE LAST THING.
THINK THAT IS A REALLY GOOD POINT BUT
BEFORE ALL THE HATERS JUMP ME, WHEN I TALK ABOUT THE
WHOLESOMENESS OF CHEERLEADING, I AM TALKING ABOUT THAT PACKAGE
THAT WE HAVE HAD SINCE THE 50S WHICH IS, IT IS A FOOTBALL GAME
AND THERE ARE A LOT OF GUYS COMPETING AND CHEERLEADERS ON
THE SIDELINES.
THIS IS WHOLESOME THE WAY BEER ADS ARE
WHOLESOME, SO DON'T GET ME WRONG.
BEER ADS SEXUALIZED
WOMEN AS WELL, SO WE HAVE SEXUALIZED THIS PART OF THE NFL
AND, I SAY NFL, ALSO AT THE COLLEGIATE LEVEL.
THERE
CHEERLEADERS AT COLLEGE, AND HIGH SCHOOL AS WELL BUT THE
POINT I WANT TO MAKE IS THAT IT IS A MUCH MORE COMPLICATED
PICTURE THAN JUST THE WHOLESOMENESS OF THE
SIDELINE, LET'S GO TEAM, TOUCHDOWN, TOUCHDOWN.
THE NFL HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR.
IT IS THE TREATMENT, THE
CULTURE AROUND THE TREATMENT OF THE CHEERLEADERS, THE NAMES OF
THESE TEAMS, THE WAY THAT THEY HAVE TREATED COLIN KAEPERNICK
AND AS WE'VE SAID IN AN EARLIER STORY, THE BRAIN INJURIES.
I
THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME SORT OF REASSESSMENT OF WHAT
THIS PAST TIME IS GIVING US OR THE FACT THAT WE NEED TO FIGURE
OUT HOW TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE AS A NONPROFIT.
THEY PAY NO TAXES.
ABSOLUTELY, SO WE'RE SITTING WITH OUR HARD EARNED MONEY TO
BUY SEEDS TO GO TO THESE GAMES ARE TO WATCH THE SUPER BOWL OR
WHATEVER AND ADVERTISERS ARE PAYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO
SUPPORT THIS COMPANY THAT IS A NONPROFIT AND SO WHERE IS
OUR MONEY GOING?
WHO IS IT SUPPORTING, AND WHO IS REALLY ROLLING IN THE DOUGH
AROUND THAT?
I JUST URGE FOLKS TO REALLY REASSESS THIS ORGANIZATION.
AND NOW THEY HAVE, THEY DO PAY TAXES NOW BUT FOR YEARS
THE NFL PAID NO TAXES.
I THINK YOUR FUNDAMENTAL POINT IS LOOK, THIS IS AN
INDUSTRY THAT WE HAVE REALLY ALLOWED TO SKATE AND IT HAS
PRETTY MUCH BEEN THE WILD WEST.
THEY HAVE DONE WHATEVER THEY WANTED INCLUDING YOU COULD
ARGUE COLLUDING AGAINST PLAYERS LIKE COLIN KAEPERNICK.
THERE'S A REASON HE CAN'T GET A JOB AND IT MAY HAVE TO DO
WITH AN AGREEMENT OF SORTS, EVEN IF IT'S NOT A FORMAL ONE,
AN INFORMAL ONE SO YES, THE NFL HAS BEEN ALLOWED
TO SKATE.