Erin Andrews has been awarded $55 million by a jury after a stalker of hers took a video of her in the nude back in 2008 and it circulated all over the Internet.
The 37-year-old sportscaster for Fox Sports filed the lawsuit against her stalker, Michael David Barrett, six years ago. Barrett recorded a video of her in the nude at her hotel room in the Nashville Marriot at Vanderbilt University. Andrews also sued the franchise hotel owner and its operator.
The jurors decided to have Barrett pay 51 percent of the $55 million since they found him to be the most at fault in this case. The hotel management company, Windsor Capital Group, and the hotel owner West End Hotel Partners, meanwhile, will reimburse the sportscaster with the remaining 49 percent of the cash.
"I would like to thank the Nashville court, the court personnel and the jury for their service. The support I've received from the people of Nashville has been overwhelming. I would also like to thank my family, friends, and legal team," Andrews said on Monday.
"I've been honored by all the support from victims around the world. Their outreach has helped me be able to stand up and hold accountable those whose job it is to protect everyone's safety, security and privacy," she added.
However, Dan Abrams, the chief legal affairs anchor for ABC News, revealed that Andrews may only end up getting a fraction of the sum considering that there will be obstacles that will get in her way of getting the multi-million dollar award.
"More than half of that is attributed to the guy who did this who's got no money, so you've got over $26 million left that's attributed to the hotel," Abrams said. "Take away the possibility it gets reduced, attorneys' fees, taxes and Erin Andrews is taking home a fraction of that total verdict."
Barrett eventually pleaded guilty to the crime in 2009. He said that he was only financially motivated to film Andrews inside her hotel room and has stressed that he was "not proud" of what he has done.
Andrews herself testified in the trial and admits that she still thinks about the video every day. "One of the worst thoughts I have is when I walk around a stadium ... there's always that thought, as I walk right by the stands, and I think, 'My God, everyone in this stadium has seen that video,'" she said.
About 16.8 million people have seen the video, according to a forensic computer expert, while a psychologist revealed during trial that Andrews suffers from "mild post-traumatic stress disorder." Andrews said: "It's on the Internet now. And I've been told it's going to be on the Internet until I die."
