Erin Andrews awarded $55 million in peephole lawsuit

Erin Andrews was awarded $55 million by a jury in her lawsuit against her stalker and a hotel ownership group.

Andrews filed a civil suit in response to being video recorded by stalker Michael David Barrett in 2008, who was staying next door in a hotel room to her and fixed the peephole so he could record video of her naked.

Andrew was in Nashville at the time to cover a Vanderbilt college football game for ESPN and was staying at the Nashville Marriott. Barrett was able to secure a room nextdoor to Andrews’ by making the request with the hotel’s staff.

After recording the video and shopping it to outlets, Barrett eventually posted the video online. He was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison, which he served.

Andrews’ suit was in civil court, allowing her to name Barrett as a defendant. Barrett was found to be 51 percent at fault and ordered to pay $28 million to Andrews. Hotel owner West End Hotel Partners was found to be 49 percent at fault and ordered to pay $26 million.

It’s highly unlikely Barrett will ever have the means to pay such monetary amounts to Andrews. The hotel group will likely appeal as well, meaning the monetary amounts she sees will likely be significantly less.

Andrews testified about how much the incident and video going viral changed her. She said it made her less trusting and haunted her. She also said ESPN made her do an interview before they would assign her to do more work.