Two former team captains for the Washington Redskins’ cheerleading squad are challenging a report from the New York Times that claimed their colleagues were forced to pose topless and serve as dates for sponsors.
Redskins’ officials asked former cheerleaders Rachel Gill and Charo Bishop to speak out on their behalf on NBC’s “Today.”
When asked if the NYT report reflected their own experience, they said, “not at all.
“We can’t discount the experiences the other women had on the team,” Bishop said, but said she wanted to tell the facts. “The topless being forced, simply wasn’t true.
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“In terms of being an escort, that was never a perception that I had, I think being friendly and receptive and welcome to sponsors is completely different to being an escort.”
When asked whether they felt pressured into it, they said they couldn’t speak for the other ladies, but they didn’t feel that way.
“We are never forced, or told to do something we don’t want to do.” Gill said.
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Anonymous cheerleaders told the Times that “They weren’t putting a gun to our heads, but it was mandatory for us to go.”
Gill and Bishop took offence at the wording of the report.
“Those terms, ‘pimped out,’ ‘escort,’ they just need to stop,” Gill said, “because it’s absolutely not what happened.”
In a statement on the Redskins website Thursday, president Bruce Allen said they were “very concerned” about the allegations and will be looking into them.
READ MORE: NFL cheerleader fired over ‘sexy’ photo calls out rules that don’t apply to players
The allegations come after another NFL cheerleader accused the league of gender bias after being fired for violating the New Orleans Saints’ social media policy.
Bailey Davis said she was fired for unfair social media standards that applied only to cheerleaders and not NFL players.
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