Sports reporter and TV host Taylor Rooks has become known for her viral interviews over the years, gaining the reputation as a person athletes are comfortable enough to “say anything” to during a sit-down.
Part of that comfortability exists due to Rooks’ ability to build personal friendships with various athletes, although those relationships have sometimes led to criticism and accusations online that she may show bias toward certain players if they are close to her.
Women in the sports media industry, albeit unfairly, faced renewed scrutiny earlier this year after NFL insider Dianna Russini resigned from her job in scandal following the reveal of an alleged inappropriate relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.
Rooks, 34, addressed the discussion surrounding her relationships with athletes during an appearance at the “Tuned In” summit, a sports media event in New York City hosted by Front Office Sports.
“This is a relationship business,” Rooks said on Tuesday. “This is about maintaining relationships, building relationships.”
Rooks, who currently works for Amazon Prime Video as the host of “NBA on Prime” and a feature reporter on its weekly NFL “Thursday Night Football” broadcast, went on to say that the chance to have tough conversations about various topics off camera with athletes can make it easier for them to open up during interviews.
“I think that one of the reasons you end up sitting with me is because there is the trust that exists,” Rooks said. “And that trust really is this daily deposit, both with the audience and with the person that you’re interviewing.”
“I let go of online criticism a long time ago,” Rooks added. “People who go online to criticize me… It doesn’t register with me. Because I know what’s true about my life, my credibility, my profession.”
At least one social media user chose to contrast Rooks’ recent comments to the Russini-Vrabel scandal.
“Not every female reporter is Dianna Russini,” X user @cpettway79 wrote in response to Rooks’ interview. “My goodness give it a break. We know the woman is FINE. But she has never given an notion she’s even flirting with players let alone sleeping with them.”
Rooks married Harvard law graduate Shane Fowler last summer in a ceremony that was attended by sports stars like NBA player Kevin Durant and NFL running back Saquon Barkley, among others.
The fact that Russini and Vrabel are both married, just not to each other, created a media firestorm in April when the New York Post obtained photos of the NFL insider and coach intimately holding hands and spending time together poolside at a resort in Arizona in March 2026.
Photos later emerged of Vrabel and Russini at a New York bar in March 2020, and an eyewitness alleged to Page Six that the pair was seen kissing; Russini married Shake Shack executive Kevin Goldschmidt in September 2020, while Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jennifer Vrabel, since 1999.
Russini resigned from her position at The Athletic after the fallout, and an internal investigation by the company later determined she violated standards by not disclosing her relationship with Vrabel. The company maintained, however, that Russini’s reporting was not compromised by her relationship with the Patriots coach.
Last week, Page Six reported that Russini hired veteran crisis publicist Melissa Nathan in order to assist in rehabbing her reputation following the scandal. Russini is also said to be weighing multiple potential job offers to return to the public eye, but the status or timetable of that process is unclear.
Rooks is scheduled to return to the NBA on Prime set next Friday, Oct. 23, with a doubleheader set to appear on Amazon Prime that evening. The NBA season begins with a tripleheader on Oct. 20, as those three games will be featured on NBC and Peacock platforms.
