Report: ESPN settled sexual harassment claim involving Chris Berman

ESPN recently settled a sexual harassment claim involving personality Chris Berman and a former “Sunday NFL Countdown” makeup artist, according to a report.

The Big Lead reports that Sue Baumann, a woman who was working as an independent contractor for ESPN and became tied to the Countdown show, alleges she was sexual harassed by Berman. Comments made by Berman in the makeup room and text messages dating back to as far as 2011 reportedly were what led to the claim.

An ESPN PR spokesman responded to the story.

“Our thorough investigation revealed the harassment claims had no merit. We settled it solely to save a considerable amount of time and litigation costs,” ESPN’s Josh Krulewitz told The Big Lead.

The woman, Baumann, apparently had been working as a makeup artist at ESPN for years before becoming specifically tied to the Countdown show. She was fired by the agency who got her the work at ESPN this summer.

Some of the text messages may have been brought to ESPN’s attention by Baumann’s husband, who is now divorced from Sue.

In addition to the matters with Berman, Baumann also had a relationship with Countdown host Cris Carter. The two apparently approached ESPN about the relationship.