American sportscaster and TV presenter Erin Andrews has been awarded $55 million in a civil lawsuit over the stalking and secret nude video recoring at a hotel room.
The incident took place in 2008, when the sports presenter was in Nashville to cover a college basketball game for ESPN. Reportedly, an Illinois-based insurance executive, Michael David Barrett, secretly recorded her getting undressed through the peephole on the door at Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University, and later uploaded the footage on Internet.
Michael Barrett was arrested in 2009 by the FBI for stalking on the complaint filed by Andrews. He pleaded guilty in the same year and served 2 years in jail.
Later in 2015, the 37-year-old filed a $75 million lawsuit against Barett and Marriott hotels for negligence and invasion of privacy in connection with the secret videotaping.
Giving the verdict of the lawsuit recently, the jury found Michael Barrett to be at fault and asked him to pay out more than $28 million. West End Hotel Partners, who originally operates Nashville Marriott, was asked to pay 49% of $55 million.
Thanking everyone for the support and love, the host of the Dancing With The Star took to Twitter to express her gratitude.
While the Fox College sport presenter seemed happy on winning the lawsuit, she presented a very tearful testimony last week breaking down a number of times. She said that the leaked video had affected her deep inside.
"It's always there. It's always on my back. I wanted to be the girl next door who loved sports, and now I'm the girl with a hotel scandal. ... It's on the Internet now. ... It's going to be on the Internet until I die", she said.
