Amazon Prime “Thursday Night Football” commentator Charissa Thompson before an NFL football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Jacksonville Jaguars, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman)
AP
The sports media has been taken aback by the puzzling admission of a popular reporter. Charissa Thompson, a host and sportscaster for Fox Sports, admitted — for a second time — that she fabricated news reports when broadcasting from NFL sidelines.
Earlier this week, Thompson appeared on Barstool’s “Pardon My Take” podcast with Dan Katz and talked about giving sideline reports when she had absolutely nothing to report on.
“I’ve said this before,” Thompson said on the podcast. “I haven’t been fired for saying it, but I’ll say it again. I would make up the report sometimes, because A, 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 gonna make this up.’”
Other media members and sports fans were baffled at Thompson’s blatant remarks and took to social media to express their anger.
Thompson had admitted on her 2022 podcast “Calm Down with Erin and Charissa,” with fellow veteran sports reporter Erin Andrews, that she would “make up reports” in order to cover up for coaches who barely give anything worth reporting on.
“I was like, ‘Oh, Coach what adjustments are you gonna make at halftime?’ He goes, ‘That’s a great perfume you’re wearing.’ I was like, ‘Oh (expletive), this isn’t gonna work.’ I’m not kidding, I made up a report,” Thompson said on the podcast.
Andrews sided with Thompson.
“I’ve done that too,” Andrews said. “For a coach that I didn’t wanna throw under the bus because he was telling me all the wrong stuff!”
Thompson has been in the sports business since 2007 and has worked for major networks like the Big Ten Network, ESPN and Fox. She’s currently the host of “Fox NFL Kickoff” and “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime Video.
TJ Macías is a Real-Time national sports reporter for McClatchy based out of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Formerly, TJ covered the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers beat for numerous media outlets including 24/7 Sports and Mavs Maven (Sports Illustrated). Twitter: @TayloredSiren
