16.8M People Have Seen Nude Videos of Erin Andrews

A computer scientist testifies
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 26, 2016 11:20 AM CST
16.8M People Have Seen Nude Videos of Erin Andrews
Sportscaster and television host Erin Andrews talks with attorney Scott Carr in the courtroom Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn.   (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, Pool)

A civil trial is underway against the Nashville Marriott where the man who stalked Erin Andrews took nude peephole videos of her, and on Thursday, a computer scientist testified that those videos—or still pictures taken from them—have been viewed by more than 16.8 million people. Bernard "Jim" Jansen said his research found that after the videos, taken in 2008, went online, Andrews—an ESPN reporter at the time—became a top search term. He noted that even within the past six months, nearly 400,000 people watched the videos, the Tennessean reports: "There’s a saying that once it’s on the Internet, it’s on the Internet," he said. "Right now, someone’s watching that video."

The jurors in the civil trial also watched the videos Thursday afternoon, with a teary-eyed Andrews leaving the courtroom before they were put on. On Wednesday, Andrews' father had testified that his daughter vomited before agreeing to watch the videos with the FBI in order to help identify her stalker, the AP reports. Lawyers for the hotel attempted to put the number of peephole video viewers into perspective, pointing out in court that 80 million people look at ESPN's website each month and that there are 3.5 trillion Google searches each day. Andrews, who now works for Fox Sports and on ABC's Dancing With the Stars, filed a $75 million lawsuit that targets not just the hotel and its management but the man convicted of stalking her as well. (More Erin Andrews stories.)

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