LOS ANGELES — Charissa Thompson, who is currently a host for Fox Sports and Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, has responded to backlash after she admitted she made up reports while working as a sideline reporter.
Thompson made the comments on Barstool Sports' podcast Pardon My Take, which was published Thursday.
"I would make up the report sometimes because the coach wouldn't come out at halftime, or it was too late and I didn't want to screw up the report so I was like, 'I'm just going to make this up,'" Thompson said. "Because first of all, no coach is going to get mad if I say 'Hey we need to stop hurting ourselves, we need to be better on third down, we need to stop turning the ball over and do a better job of getting off the field.'
"They're not going to correct me on that," she said. "I'm like, 'It's fine, I'll make up the report.'"
The comments begin around 1 hour and 27 minutes into the video:
Thompson's admission sparked backlash from many corners, including other sideline reporters.
"This is absolutely not OK, not the norm and upsetting on so many levels," said CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson.
Molly McGrath, a college football sideline reporter for ESPN and ABC said, "This is not normal or ethical."
Fox Sports sideline reporter Laura Okmin she was "devastated" over the texts she was getting asking if what Thompson said was OK.
"No. Never," she said.
"Shocked. Disappointed. Disgusted," said ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters. "What we heard today called all sideline reporters into question."
On Friday, Thompson issued a statement saying in part that she "has never lied or been unethical" while working as a sportscaster:
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