Months after she left her job at The Athletic, it appears Dianna Russini is ready for a comeback.
The former NFL insider has told people within the league that she plans to return “next week,” Pro Football Talk first reported Wednesday.
A source told Page Six that Russini will be “headlining her own show, which is very, very exciting for her.”
“It’s going to be on a digital platform. It will be launching next week,” our source tells us. “It’s been in the works for a while and she can’t wait to get back to what she loves.”
Where this show will happen — if it’s independent or within an existing media outlet — is now clear.
Russini was at the center of a scandal in April when Page Six first published photos of her getting cozy with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel at a Sedona, Arizona resort, where they held hands, hugged and sat together poolside. Page Six later published photos from early 2020 of the two getting close at a New York bar and appearing to kiss. They are married to different partners.
Russini, amid an internal investigation by the New York Times-owned Athletic, resigned on April 14.
In September, The Athletic revealed its findings and said the reporter violated newsroom standards. However, the outlet said there was not “a clear link to conclude that Russini used her platform to help promote Vrabel or help his teams during her time at The Athletic.”
“That said, there are examples of Russini writing glowingly of Vrabel that in hindsight are awkward or even uncomfortable,” Mike Semel, The Athletic’s editorial director for standards and quality, wrote in the findings.
Vrabel has kept his Patriots job but did seek counseling on the final day of this year’s NFL draft.
Fox Sports Radio host Jon “Stugotz” Weiner said he would hire Russini during a May episode of his show. He said “the offer holds forever.” Whether Russini’s new venture involves “Stugotz” is not clear.
