© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
A TMZ producer is speaking out on why they didn’t buy the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini pics.
Earlier this week, the New England Patriots head coach and an NY Times NFL reporter were photographed in a hot tub at an adults-only resort in Arizona. The photos of the encounter were released by the NY Post.
Via NY Post
A Page Six spy tells us that the pair — both married to other people — had breakfast on the patio of the hotel restaurant around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 28, before spending a leisurely hour or so together at the pool and lounging side-by-side in a hot tub.
Our spy spotted Vrabel and Russini again that evening on the private rooftop of one of the hotel’s bungalows, which features glass walls offering panoramic views of the state’s famed Red Rock formations. Roofs are only accessible from the two-person bungalows, which cost up to $2,160 a night.
According to Front Office Sports, the NY Post was able to buy the pictures for pretty cheap because TMZ was hesitant to purchase them.
Via Front Office Sports ” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>TMZ
TMZ received a tip about the photos of the Patriots’ head coach and the senior NFL insider for The Athletic, FOS has learned.
An anonymous tipster reached out to the outlet, saying that Vrabel was hanging out with an unidentified woman. When TMZ staffers evaluated the photos, they eventually realized that it was Russini. The anonymous tipster was not from a known paparazzi or photo agency, and requested an unspecified sum in the “four figures.” As TMZ’s newsroom deliberated whether this was a legitimate story or too “bedroom police-y,” the Post’s Page Six vertical ran with it, rendering the debate moot, a source said.
TMZ producer Michael Babcock revealed that they initially didn’t know Russini was the woman in the pics until the NY Post had already purchased the pics.
“Re: Vrabel photos, we saw them. They weren’t presented as Vrabel and Russini. It was Vrabel with “a woman who isn’t his wife. That warrants further conversation, and I stand by that.
We later figured out it was Russini, but reason to believe they’d already made a deal with the Post.”