Erin Go Bra

Ah, the media loves a celebrity feud and the latest one they have created is The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck vs. Erin Andrews, the ESPN reporter currently appearing on Dancing With The Stars.

To bring you up to speed, last year Andrews was the victim of a stalker/peeping Tom who videotaped her through a hotel room peephole, with that footage making its way to the Internet.  The man was ultimately arrested and is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence.

This week, Hasselbeck, quite off the cuff, criticized Andrew's skimpy dancing costumes: “In the past three weeks she’s been wearing next to nothing. In light of what happened and as a legal [matter] — and as inexcusable as it was for that horrific guy to go in and try to peep on her in her hotel room. I mean, in some way if I’m him, I’m like, ‘Man! I just could’ve waited 12 weeks and seen this — a little bit less — without the prison time!’”

While I think Hasselbeck's comments were wrong and definitely crossed the line in a classic "blaming the victim"/"she deserved it" way, it still made me think about my own, and perhaps politically incorrect thoughts, regarding Andrews.  Though my thoughts have nothing to do with what she is wearing. If anything, I think Andrews' costumes have been pretty darn modest compared to many of the females (Hello, Edyta?!) on the show... while the above shot suggests a bare midriff it is all flesh-colored fabric (and yes, I could not pass up an opportunity to show Maks shirtless!)

My "issue" is that it is the stalking that directly led her to be cast on the show and no doubt in my mind for all involved (Andrews, ABC, DWTS) that it is/was a "strike while the iron is hot" scenario.  Yes, Andrews did have an audience/some level of fame as an ESPN reporter (which is not exactly the DWTS demographic), but that's not what landed her on Oprah. 

And while Andrews may be viewing DWTS as therapy and to gain fame in a new, different, more positive way as a celebri-dancer I have always found her casting to a bit tawdry and uncomfortable...and certainly proverbial "elephant in the room" as it was something that was never mentioned up to this somewhat manufactured controversy and peripherally when she allegedly had death threats against her this season (not sure why she attracts lunatics!).

Comments

[Jeff]

Wow, thanks for getting me up to speed! This just shows how little I have invested the dancers' lives outside the show... I had no idea about the stalker issue. (Even Thom thinks I over-zealously TiVo-skip past all the non-dancing segments while we watch the show!)