According to a report by The Big Lead, a makeup artist who used to work at the WorldWide Leader settled a sexual harassment claim with ESPN that focused on Chris Berman. That makeup artist,also known by her name, Sue Baumann, was represented by Gloria Allred. The allegations, which dated back to 2011, centered around comments Berman allegedly made in both text messages and in the makeup room.
A spokesperson for ESPN told The Big Lead “Our thorough investigation revealed the harassment claims had no merit. We settled it solely to save a considerable amount of time and litigation costs.” Allred, nor Berman's agent, offered any sort of comment.
Baumann had worked for ESPN for six-to-seven years, and was the head makeup honcho for NFL Countdown for five of those. Her allegations against Berman appear to have come to light after an association with another employee on the show.
In 2013, Baumann had an extramarital relationship with one of Countdown's analysts, Cris Carter. Police were called twice to Baumann's house during the same year, and one of those times was due to private investigators allegedly "hired by ESPN," who had told Baumann's understandably pissed husband to "stop calling and harassing an employee" at the network (that would be Carter). The police report is embedded below:
During the summer of 2015, Baumann was fired by the company that officially employed her and contracted her to ESPN. After said firing was when Baumann's harassment allegations were unearthed. Some of Berman's text messages were made aware to NFL Countdown's senior coordinating producer Seth Markman, and were reportedly brought to his attention by Baumann's (now) ex-husband.
At a time when ESPN is making very public cuts, this can't be a good look. We think it's best summed up with a phrase both Berman and Carter have used countless times over the past several years:
[via The Big Lead]
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