The controversy surrounding Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has continued to draw questions months after the story first surfaced.
Since the alleged relationship became public earlier this offseason, several journalists have pressed for clearer answers. The public still awaits The Athletic’s findings of their investigation into Russini’s reporting that started in April. The outlet’s silence has now drawn criticism from podcaster Nikki Gist.
Podcaster Nikki Gist Called Out The Athletic For Slow Investigation of Dianna Russini
In a recent podcast clip shared on X, Gist questioned why The Athletic has remained so quiet about its investigation into Russini.
“The Athletic can’t come out here and say all her reporting is clean; it’s not, it’s not,” she said. “He obviously was feeding her information. It’s obviously a source. You’re sleeping with him. It’s not clean information.
“But The Athletic can’t also come out here and say, ‘Well, all her reporting is compromised,’ because you just blew open Pandora’s box, which I secretly hope gets blown open. I really do… because the media wants to cover up so much [expletive].”
Gist also suggested that the delay itself has raised more questions inside The Athletic.
“By the way, if she was clean, it would have came out already,” she said. “Then I know for a fact that their employees are [expletive] off. It’s taking this long. And I know for a fact, their employees have known for a long time and couldn’t say anything. You know, sports is a big world, but it’s also really small.
“And a lot of people know a lot of things about other people. A lot of people see things and a lot of people try to get information out, and they don’t want to get their hands dirty.”
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The timeline is the reason the controversy keeps getting plenty of attention.
Page Six first published photos on April 7 that showed Russini and Vrabel holding hands and embracing at the adults-only Ambiente resort in Sedona, Arizona. Soon, the scandal became a tabloid circus.
The situation became a much larger media story, and Russini resigned from The Athletic on April 14.
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Meanwhile, Vrabel missed Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft to attend counseling before returning to work shortly after.
The whole situation is bizarre because The Athletic’s executive editor Steven Ginsberg provided a timeline two months ago, saying the investigation “is going to take a few more weeks.” There hasn’t been any kind of update since.
For now, Russini’s NFL reporting career appears to have reached a standstill. She even referred to herself as a “former journalist” in text messages with a reporter from The New York Times, so it’s possible she is planning a career pivot.
It remains to be seen what The Athletic’s investigation will find. The results of the internal probe could make the road back to sports journalism increasingly difficult for Russini.
For now, all eyes are on The Athletic. With the NFL season approaching, the question is whether the organization will finally explain what they found or continue to let the investigation linger.
