The Daily - Wednesday, Apr. 18, 2018

Episode Date: April 18, 2018

The firing of a professional cheerleader has drawn attention to an industry that seemed to be operating outside the #MeToo movement. But now, sports teams are being drawn into it. Guest: Annie Brown, a producer on “The Daily,” speaks with Bailey Davis, the New Orleans Saints cheerleader who was fired for violating the team’s social media policy. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today, the firing of a professional cheerleader has drawn attention to an industry that seemed to be operating outside the MeToo movement. Now, it may have no choice but to be drawn into it. It's Wednesday, April 18th. Tell me about this thing that happens every year, these tryouts for the Saints cheerleading team.

So tryouts usually take place around April, about the end of April. My colleague Annie Brown recently spoke to Bailey Davis, a former cheerleader for the New Orleans Saints. My mom was a dancer in the Super Bowl halftime shows when she was my age. So, she was backup for the Beach Boys, Hank Williams Jr. Wow. Found out she was pregnant with me after Super Bowl in 1995. And so ever since I was little, I was always around the Saints stations going to practices. My family was always going to Saints games.

So I literally grown up a Saints fan from day one. So it was very important to me to be a Saint Station and represent the organization that I had grown up loving. And you're calling them the Saint Stations. What are the Saint Stations? That's what the Saints cheerleaders are called, the Saint Stations. Today is my very first time coming out of the Saint Station. I'm so excited and I really hope you enjoy what you see for me today. It's always very intimidating to be in a room with hundreds of other beautiful women who can dance, who've been working on their technique, they've been working out, everyone looks beautiful, the room smells like hairspray and spray tans.

Yeah, you're terrified. We're probably going to narrow down from about 100 participants today, but today we're bringing you our first round here live from the New Orleans Saints Practice Facility. My first tryout was when I was 19. It was so nerve-wracking. You have to wear black for tryouts so you can design your own black top. I usually get a swimsuit top and I'll bedazzle a swimsuit top. And then everyone wears black swimsuit bottoms because they make your legs look longer.

Try it again. Ready? The first day, it's all dancing. So you get there and you learn a routine. They give you a number and then you try out in about groups of four. We're going to start our second dance routine right now, Jared. This is the more technical routine, as I was telling you before earlier. The first routine is more of a sideline routine where you kind of... When we were in callbacks, they made us do it four times in a row.

Like they would stop the music and say, okay, I want to see it again. What we look for is dynamic performers. I want to see it again. They we look for is dynamic performers. I want to see it again. They can be the most technical, fabulous dancer, but if they're not performing and selling it, nobody wants to watch them anyway. I want to see it again. And we were all dying out of breath. And what are the judges actually looking for? I like it. How much is the hair flip a part of this all? It's hairography. I love it. That's what we call it. Hairography. Hairography. part of this all. It's hairography. I love it. That's what we call it. Hairography. Hairography.

So the hairstylist is always a judge. He's looking at your hair. A bodybuilder, that's a judge to look at our physique. There's always a guy that's a dentist that's there. I'm not really sure. I think he's just there to say if he likes the way the women look or not. Is he looking at your teeth? I think he's just a fan. Well, Tuesday, they'll do two to one interviews with two business professionals from our community. We want to see how they present to the public. And if you make that cut, you come back the next day and you wear a business suit and you go in and have interviews with judges. And then after that, you put on your workout clothes and you go do your body fat assessment and a football test. Don't forget that. And then you take the NFL football test.

You got to know all the teams and all the mascots and all the cities, all the positions. It sounds like an athletic competition, a beauty pageant and a college exam all kind of rolled together. It is. That's a good way to put it. It's like going through finals week, a beauty pageant, and a soccer game all in one. See how she ended the front, Jared? That's how you end the show. So where are you when you find out who made the team? I think I was at a Mexican restaurant with my other friends that tried out and they did a video. So they

had a news broadcaster flash the list on the screen and they talked about each girl. And I was like shaking. I was so scared. And then they showed my picture and I was so excited. And it was like a big, oh, finally moment because I had been waiting for the day I could try out. I've been waiting for the day I could be at St. Station. I had been, you know, going to the games and I had every calendar from every year and I would just sit at home and flip through them and be like, wow, these girls are gorgeous. They're amazing women.

And to finally see my picture and be on the list of sensations was just an amazing feeling. So this childhood dream of yours comes true. Was there a moment during this time where things started to feel less positive? Yeah, I would definitely use the word less glamorous because once I was on the team, they were really hard on me. I was told when I first made the team that I needed to lose weight. The coach actually grabbed my stomach at practice and said, we need to get rid of this.

Wow. Right. This was my very first practice, actually. There was a lot of times when girls were told they need to lose weight after they had made the team. They say that they take us with our potential in mind. What do you do after she tells you that you have to lose weight after they had made the team. They say that they take us with our potential in mind. What do you do after she tells you that you have to lose this weight? She grabs your stomach and says, we want to get rid of this. Well, I got in the car and I cried. And I know I sound like such a crybaby telling this story, but you know, it's hard hearing that from someone. And we had

calendar shoot in a month. So I had one month to lose the weight and look better if I wanted a spot in the calendar. And so right away, the reality of being on the team is not feeling quite like the dream you had of being on this team. Right. But I think the most negative experience was selling calendars because I'm a terrible salesman. Like I do not like having to sell things or asking people for money. And we had to sell 20 calendars before every game. And so right after field rehearsal, we had to run in, slap all makeup, go outside to Champion Square with all the drunk guys wandering around there. We had to sell these calendars. And I would always come back in with like 10 or 5 left.

And after I'd get hollered at, I would get pulled from the third quarter. So I didn't even get to cheer the third quarter because I had to go sell the rest of my calendars. So I couldn't be on the field unless I sold all 20 calendars. So in addition to like working for your paycheck, you're also selling calendars. Basically, yes. And then it got to the point where you're begging people to buy them. And we're not supposed to tell people like, if you don't buy this, I can't go on the field. If I don't sell these, I can't go on the field. But it got to the point where some of us were telling people that. So that's true. Right. And I would have my dad come and bring extra cash so he can buy a few from me. So I think between my dad and my boyfriend at the time, they were dropping $100 so I could be on the field.

And how much are you paid? My first year was minimum wage. And then my second year, it was $825. And then it goes up from there. And at what point do you learn about the rules you have to follow in order to be on this team? Yeah, so at the beginning of every year, we have an orientation meeting and they'll go through our contract and what's expected of us and also tell us if we need a makeover or not. And they'll walk through all the girls and say, you know, this girl needs her hair here. This girl needs to be this color.

We have too many blondes. Somebody has to be a brunette or we have too many brunettes. Who can go blonde? And it's actually written down. Our nails had to be manicured. We were told they had to either be nude or French tip. We had to have a spray tan for the games, obviously. And are they giving you this stuff? Are they like sending you to their spray tan person and, like, giving you manicures? No, we had to get spray tans on our own as well as nails. And what about your behavior off the field? We couldn't, obviously, we couldn't find out who the players, so we couldn't date players, hang out with players, socialize with players, message players, be in the same place as players. We're not allowed to speak to them at all.

And I did always think that was very strange. I don't actually think that that's obvious to most people. Like that wasn't obvious to me. Yeah, it's funny because stuff that I think is normal, the more I talk about it, people are like, wait, what? And I'm like, well, yeah, like obviously. So what are the rules around spending time with players, hanging out with them? What do you have to do?

What do you have to follow? So we are not allowed to follow players on social media. If they follow us, we have to block them. We're not allowed to like anything with a player in it, whether the Saints post it or one of the player's friends post it. We can't like it. And that goes for any NFL NBA player, not just the Saints. It's like thousands of players, isn't it? How many players are in the NFL? Oh, a ton. I mean, there's 50 on each team. And then you have the NBA.

So you have to specifically block all those people? Right. And they're the ones who are following you. So are these players— Right. It's not like I followed them. I didn't put in any effort. They just followed me. So it was my responsibility then to go back and block all of them. So are these players breaking the rules for following you?

No, the players have no rules as far as fraternization or social media. They can use their last name on their social media. They can post as many football Saints pictures that they want. They can follow us. They can stand as close to us as they want on the football field. They can be anywhere that we are. They can talk to us. They can message us.

And the responsibility is on us to avoid contact and block them and leave somewhere that they are. So it's not against the rules for them to talk to you, to follow you, to be near you, but it's against the rules for you to let them do that to you. Yeah, not only is it just against the rules you'll get a warning, it's immediate termination. And what's the justification for that? Do you know?

Like, what's the idea behind that rule? They told us the players are players. Like, you can't get involved with them. They're just trying to play you. They don't actually care about you. And then they said that the social media rules are in place to protect us. They are predators. They want to prey on us. We're pretty girls. They're going to want to talk to us. They call them predators? They call the football players predators. So the people that you're cheering for, they're saying they're also predators?

Exactly. They actually, I mean, it's in writing. They said they are predators. They will prey on you. So I had never been in trouble for anything all my three years on the team. I was a captain for two years. But at the end of the season this past year, we got an email saying that they heard that a girl was at a party with a

player and that they were investigating it. I was actually with one of the girls on the team and we both got the email at the same time and we were like, oh my gosh, who is this about? Somebody's in trouble. Well, then a couple of the girls text me and said, I think this is about you. Like I heard it was you. So I immediately just picked up the phone and I called my coach and I said, what is going on? What is this email about? People are accusing me of this. And she said, well, yeah, actually it is about you. So they're accusing you of being in the same room as football players. Right. I was being accused of being around football players at a party. And just to be clear, were you at this party? No, I was not. I was actually in Orlando when that party happened, or I think it was a concert. So then I went into human resources

and they immediately started questioning me about this party and I denied it. a concert. So then I went into human resources and they immediately started questioning me about this party and I denied it. And they said, well, if you're going to lie about it, we'll just ask a player because they have no reason to lie. So it was kind of like the players could say whatever they wanted and I had no voice in this. And you know, when girls in the past

have been fired for dating players, they're like shamed off the team. It's like they're horrible representatives. They were horrible sensations. And they told me in the past that if a girl's name even came out of a player's mouth and someone heard it, the girl would have been fired. So at this point I was terrified. I knew my job wasn't secure. And they said, well, are players messaging you? And I said, yes, like players message us all the time. It's not anything new. You know, we just ignore it. And then I was told to go through my followers and block anybody that was a football player that followed me. So then what happens after this HR meeting? Then what happens after this HR meeting?

After this HR meeting, about four days later, I posted a photo that I had gotten from a photographer from a photo shoot I did a while back. I needed a full body shot, you know, that showed my athleticism, my physique. So I had this photo and I posted it on Instagram. I thought it was a strong looking photo. What does it look like? I have a serious face.

I'm turned to the side. It was in a lace bodysuit. It showed the muscle tone in my arm, and I just wanted to have an athletic-looking, pretty photo. So then what happens after you post it? After I post it, I got a text from a coach that said, very poor judgment to post this photo, especially considering rumors going around about you. And I said, yes, ma'am, it's deleted. And then the next day I found out from my mom that they had said I should just go ahead and resign. You should resign because you posted this photo? Right. You know, me and my mom talked about it and I said, I don't think I've done anything wrong. I'm not going to resign. But I wonder if that feeling is hard to dismiss though. Like you feel

strongly, you have not done anything wrong, but you have these people around you who have much more power than you do, who you have revered telling you that you did. Right. Right. It's like all of a sudden this picture gave me this reputation that I didn't see myself as having, or people that know me don't see me this way. But I wonder if it got in your head a little bit. Did you, for a minute at least, see yourself through their eyes? Oh, yeah. I immediately, you know, still looking at the photo, I see it in the way they saw it, which hurts me because I've never been one to care about what other people thought. I've just kind of marched to the beat of my own drum.

And so to be looking at myself in a trashy way made me question my own character a little bit. And then I have to be like, no, I'm not like that. Like, I have little girls that adore me. I, you know, I'm a family person. I'm not running around sleeping with all these football players. And so to have them think that of me just because of that photo, I definitely began to question myself. Like, wow, maybe I am putting out the image that I'm like this, you know?

Right. They made me feel like a slut, if we're being honest. Yeah. Right. They made me feel like a slut, if we're being honest. And so I called my coach and I said, I know that you have asked for me to resign, but I'm not going to. And she said, so would you like to request a meeting with Human Resources? And I said, yes. And so me and my mom went to the meeting and I sat down and he said, so you've requested a meeting with me. And I said, yes, sir. I want to know why you are asking me to resign. and he said, so you've requested a meeting with me. And I said, yes, sir. I want to know why you are asking me to resign. And he said, oh, it's no question.

We sent the photo to legal. Everyone has agreed it's grounds for immediate termination. There's no question. You're fired. He continued to go on about how he can't believe I would post something like this. He would never let his granddaughters post anything like this.

You're seeking players attention. Just kept going on about how terrible of a person I was. Like to be fired is one thing, but to sit there and have someone question your character and tell you how terrible you are because of a picture you posted. Had you ever imagined that this could happen to you? No. If you would have told me a year ago that this is how it was going to end, I wouldn't believe you. Everything I'd worked for my whole life, the organization I had grown up around, people that worked for the Saints were considered my family. They were all best friends with my mom. They had all waited for the day that I was going to be on Saint Stations.

And then to be told in that meeting that I was a bad representative, called my character into question. I think that was what was so devastating. It's like my plans and my dreams had completely been crushed in that moment. So what happens after this meeting? They tell you, no question about it, grounds of termination, you're fired. After this meeting, we went in the car. I tried not to cry in front of my mom because I didn't, you know, she was still employed by the Saints at this point. And I told her, you know, I wanted her to keep her job. I didn't want it to affect her at all. But she just says that what happened was wrong. The rules need to be fixed. And she agrees the girl should be treated

better. And we prayed about it. And we decided that for long term, this is what we needed to do because there needs to be a change. Is she still working there? No, she resigned right before we filed the complaint. A former NFL cheerleader fighting back after allegedly being fired over an Instagram post. She's now claiming discrimination. Now she has filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. Now in a civil rights complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Davis argues the Saints have two sets of rules, one for

the players and an entirely different, more strict set of rules for its female cheerleaders. For example, cheerleaders have to block players from their social media accounts. They can never interact with players in person or online. They're not allowed to make eye contact with players if they come across a player in the tunnel. And are not allowed to eat in the same restaurant. Five years ago, it might have been different, and certainly 20 years ago it would have been different.

But in 2018 and in color of the Me Too movement, as the NFL is kind of shifting its position here, so too should these franchises and likely these policies. I can relate to it because I remember having some more experiences. So, Bailey, after your story was reported, we started hearing from professional cheerleaders from all over the country. And a lot of them have very similar things to say. They complained about their low wages. I remember sleeping in my car at my job because I was just exhausted. The beginning of the season, we set like a nice yield weight. I remember raising my hand and asking, OK, so I weigh 108 now, do you want me to weigh, you know, 102, 103?

She's like, yes. Being criticized for how they looked and how much they weighed. I also remember being told that I should wear two push-up bras, and it looked like I had more cleavage. We could not associate with the players at all. You know, if they were to go into a restaurant that we were in, we're supposed to leave. I was a bartender. Anytime a player would come in, I would have to step off the floor for a little bit until that player was gone. And the restrictions on their social media and their behavior outside of the team.

I've heard the thing, you know, Lola, you signed up for that. You know, you wore those skimpy outfits. So when drunk men are heckling you in the stands, like, you signed up for that. It's crazy. I'm this young kid that's in my 20s, and I'm being told, I hope you get raped. Okay, I abide by the rules, or I quit, you know? Coaches are telling you, you know, if you quit, there's thousands of girls who wanted your spot. So what are you going to do? You give up your spot.

What's going to happen? Nothing's going to change. You know, when I was a sensation, it didn't bother me. Like I didn't see how discriminating it was until I stepped back and I realized this can be so much better. These girls worked just as hard their whole lives to be cheerleaders as the football players did to be football players. Why are we treated differently? Why do we have all these extra rules to protect ourselves from these predators? Why can't they handle their own football players? But in one way,

you sort of knew what you were getting into joining the team. How do you feel about the people who say like, you signed up for this? This is what it entails. Well, who wouldn't do anything to have their dream job? I mean, it's your dream job. You'll do anything to get there. You'll do anything to keep your job. You know, no fraternization and leaving a restaurant. If a player was there, that was normal. You know, that was our normal. You're, you're in the organization. You don't see it from an outsider's point of view. We knew there were certain bars we couldn't go to. We knew the restaurants they would go to. And we knew we had to stay away from these. Like I said, it was the normal. So we didn't question it, but that's an insane type of normal. Right. So I knew what I

was doing when I signed the contract, but now that I'm on the outside, it can be better. You know, it doesn't have to stay this way. They don't have to put up with these things. Today is my very first time signing out of the same station. I'm so excited and I really hope you enjoy what you see for me today. Good evening everyone. My name is Amber. I want to be a member of this team because it allows me to impact young girls. I would love to be a Saint Station because I love to perform. I want to be a Saint Station not only for the amazing opportunity. I want to be a Saint Station because I love performing on a field and my reason for being a Saint-Sation is because I just love

inspiring people, especially young girls. It truly would be an honor to become part of this amazing organization. It truly would be a blessing. Thank you. So Bailey, it's April again. And from what I understand, this year's tryouts for the St. Sations are right around the corner. And I wonder what it's like for you to know that this is the first year in a while that you won't be there. I mean, it's really hard not getting ready for tryouts right now. And it feels very weird that I'm missing out on this. Do you wish that you'd done anything differently? In that moment? Yes. I was like, Bailey, seriously, all you had

to do was just not post that Instagram photo and all this would be gone. Right. But now I'm, I'm glad it's all coming to light because I don't want anybody else to be treated like this. I don't want anybody else to be spoken down to like I was. Bailey, would you encourage your daughter to be a Saints cheerleader in the same way that you followed in your mom's footsteps? If they change these rules and take care of their cheerleaders and respect us as athletes, yes, I will 100% encourage my daughter. And that's why I'm doing this because one day when a little girl comes up to me and says, I want to be a professional cheerleader, I want to tell her to go for it.

You know, that's an amazing job, but I want it to, I want it to be an empowering job. And right now it's not empowering women at all. Well, thank you so much, Bailey. I really appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Tryouts for next year's Saint Sations team begin this weekend.

We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. Is there confusion inside the administration on new sanctions toward Russia? No. I think the issue here is we have a set of sanctions, and additional sanctions are under consideration but not been determined. On Tuesday, President Trump's chief economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, tried to explain why the White House has reversed course on new sanctions against Russia. The sanctions, announced on Sunday by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, were intended to punish Russia for enabling its ally, Syria, to use chemical weapons.

But by Monday, the White House had backtracked, saying the sanctions might not happen at all. And on Tuesday, Kudlow put the blame on Haley. Why didn't you say the sanctions were coming on Monday? She got ahead of the curve. She's done a great job. She's a very effective ambassador. There might have been some momentary confusion about that. Haley, in a statement on Tuesday night, said, With all due respect, I don't get confused.

The Times reports that members of the administration did intend to impose the sanctions, but then President Trump rejected the idea. And… We've also started talking to North Korea directly. We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea. On Tuesday, the president revealed that the U.S. has had diplomatic contact with North Korea in preparation for a summit with its ruler, Kim Jong-un. We will probably be, depending on the various meetings and conversations, we'll be having meetings

with Kim Jong-un very soon. That'll be taking place probably in early June or a little before that, assuming things go well. It's possible things won't go well and we won't have the meetings, and we'll just continue to go along this very strong path that we've taken. Trump said that there are five possible locations under review for that summit, but wouldn't name them. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro.

See you tomorrow.