Former Washington Football Team cheerleaders, employees to protest outside stadium

Former Washington Football Team (WFT) cheerleaders and employees will stage a protest outside the team’s stadium Monday to demand the release of a report on the NFL’s investigation of the team’s workplace misconduct. 

The “#ReleaseTheReport” protest will happen before the team’s “Monday Night Football” matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. 

“We are once again coming together to demand the transparency and accountability that we, those who experienced sexual harassment at the WFT, and the public, reasonably expect from a complete investigation that included more than 120 people,” Former Washington Football Team employees Melanie Coburn and Megan Imbert wrote in a joint statement. 

Coburn and Imbert, along with several former employees, fans, supporters and family members, will gather in the parking lot ahead of the game, according to website League of Justice.

“This is bigger than the WFT and the NFL, and it’s time the most prominent workplace in the country is held accountable. That will be the only way for real progress to be achieved,” Coburn told the sports media outlet. “We look forward to speaking with the fans Monday evening at FedExField! Lookout for us in the Redzone lot from 5pm to kickoff!”

The Washington Football Team has been the center of controversy for the league this season. 

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigned from his position last month after emails from the NFL’s initial investigation of the Washington Football Team were leaked, exposing racist, homophobic and misogynistic language. 

The leaked email chain, which spans from 2011 to 2018, involved the team’s then-president, Bruce Allen, and Gruden, who was employed by ESPN as a lead broadcaster for “Monday Night Football.”

Gruden, who reached a settlement with his former team on his departure, recently sued the NFL over the leaks.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y) and member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) recently called on the NFL to release its full investigation report on the team’s workplace misconduct. 

The league fined the Washington Football Team $10 million in July following its investigation, also requiring the team executives to be trained in topics such as bullying and unconscious bias.

Rapper Wale is set to perform his 2020 hit song “Sue Me” during the team’s “Inspire Change” halftime show, which gained massive airplay during the social unrest against police brutality and systemic racism. 

In an interview with CBS affiliate WUSA earlier this month, Coburn and Imbert voiced their displeasure with the choice of song for the halftime show. 

“I was just sort of taken aback by the name of the song,” Coburn told host Darren Haynes. “To see a song called ‘Sue Me’ being announced as the halftime performance for the inspire change game was a little tone deaf in my opinion.”