Erin Andrews Awarded $55 Million in Peeping Tom Lawsuit Against Nashville Hotel

Sportscaster sued Marriott Nashville for incident that occurred in 2008

By Bruna Nessif Mar 07, 2016 10:39 PMTags
Erin Andrews, Court AppearanceAP Photo/Mark Humphrey

A verdict has been reached in the peeping tom case involving Erin Andrews.

E! News has learned that the sportscaster was awarded $55 million by the judge. 

In 2008, a video of her appearing nude while changing clothes in a hotel room was posted online after Michael David Barrett filmed it through a peephole in an adjacent room. He pleaded guilty in 2009 to stalking Andrews and shooting the video and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Andrews sued the hotel for $75 million.

The jury, who went into deliberations this morning after roughly a week-long trial involving the celeb, found Barrett to be 51 percent at fault and required him to pay out more than $28 million. West End Hotel Partners, which owns and operates that Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University, was found to be 49 percent at fault and asked to pay out more than $26 million.

According to reports inside the courtroom, the jurors took photos with Andrews after the amount was announced, and she signed autographs.

A press release was held after the verdict was read, however Andrews and her attorneys did not speak.

Meanwhile, hotel attorney Marc Deadman tells E! News in a statement: "Our clients were manipulated by a criminal who had honed his skill at several prior hotels before coming to Nashville to commit his intentional act against Ms. Andrews. It is very difficult to overcome the perception that Michael Barrett's acts, acts he also committed at other hotels and against other women, should be the responsibility of our clients. We are discussing with our clients their options at this point in light of the ruling."  

During two emotional days of testimony, Andrews recounted the terrifying incident that occurred at the Marriott Nashville, where she was in town covering a college football game. He proceeded to shoot video of her, including footage of her without clothes on, through the peephole of her door—after he tampered with the peephole to get a better shot.

She didn't know that this had happened until the video showed up online, where it has been viewed a shocking 17 million times (per testimony given by a computer expert during the trial).

"I'm so angry. This could have been stopped," she told the jury. "No one ever called me or told me when I checked in that he asked to be put next to me."

Andrews began crying on the stand and explained,"All I wanted to do is be respected, be the girl who loves sports, and now I'm the girl with the scandal. It's embarrassing. It was everywhere...My naked body was on the front page of the New York Post."

When asked if she feels hopeless, Andrews confessed, "I feel like I'm on an island all by myself...It's on the internet now. And I've been told it's going to be on the internet until I die."