ESPN analyst and former Mets manager Steve Phillips is stirring up tabloid headlines once again. In 1998 during his run with the Mets, he was hit with a sexual harassment suit accusing him of having multiple affairs, but the civil suit was settled out of court. Today, Phillips revealed that, once again, he was getting hand-sy in the workplace, conducting an affair with a younger assistant, a 22-year-old Ithaca College graduate named Brooke Hundley.
After Phillips ended the rather brief relationship, the young lady took a trip to Fatal Attraction land, stalking and contacting two of his sons on Facebook, calling his home and his wife repeatedly, and the worst thing yet? A detailed letter written by Hundley to Phillips’ wife has surfaced on the web, chock full of soap opera-esque details.
Hundley starts off the letter saying she would like to clear the air since she and Phillips had argued about “the fact that he hasn’t been honest with you about our relationship.”
This sounds like she has good intentions, but then if you keep reading you get to her rather pointed remarks about how she should let him go and let him be happy:
“…I care deeply about his happiness. I was raised Catholic too and while I know our faith dissuades divorce, it also respects with regards to infidelity because people should have the opportunity to be with whomever makes them happy and can give them what they need.”
First of all, let’s stop the blog post right here for a sec — as a girl who went to Catholic school for 12 years of my life (that’s grade school, high school, and a Jesuit college), I have never once been told that infidelity is fine if you love the other person who gives back so much to you. It is one of the Commandments after all, right in the middle of the list — “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”! She is full of bull — which I’m sure is exactly how Marni Phillips feels, since she’s filed for divorce in the light of all these massive marital annoyances.
Hundley’s letter is mostly a litany of details that show how much Phillips confided in her during their three sexual encounters and texting sessions. But then it ends with this unsavory piece of knowledge:
“…Steve has a big birthmark on his crotch right above his penis and one on his left inner thigh, so you know I’m not being fake.”
I forgot to mention that after she left this letter for Marni Phillips, she sped away from the house and smashed into a stone pillar. Good intentions melt away when you’re describing someone’s crotch to the other, more significant, loved one.
So sound off ladies: did she mean well by writing that letter, seeking honesty and openness in the hope it would lead to a better life for everyone involved? Or is she an immature, out of control and naive 22-year-old who felt burned by the shortness of the affair?
Extra credit questions: Are we paying too much attention to the private lives of these media figures (see also: David Letterman)? Isn’t it assumed that white men in positions of power have some kind of unspoken right to conduct sexual relationships with their employees?
Alright, that last question is a little sarcastic. How about this then: if the affair is a mutual choice made by both people, both adults (albeit one is much younger than the other), why should we care?
Comments
Maggie
October 21st, 2009 - 1:09:05 PM
Hundley certainly seems more than a little bitter over the whole affair, and, sure, her reaction was a little immature. At the same time though, the girl is twenty-two, and who knows really what happened during those three short encounters -- perhaps Mr. Phillips did something to provoke her? Who knows. Not me or you. But really, is it productive to place our scorn on some twenty-something for telling the truth? Wouldn't it be better to place the scorn, and blame, at the feet of Phillips who not only has had a few affairs in the past, but has done his best to hide them each and every time. I mean, he seems like the guy fucking (literally) everything up, not Hundley. As is he the only one to be married, and therefore committing adultery. Point is: girl may be immature and have poor Catholic theology (oh no!), but the dude is the real scumbag in this story. Your last question may have been sarcastic, but it certainly was telling.
Ruth Houston
October 24th, 2009 - 4:48:12 PM
The Steve Phillips – Brooke Hundley affair should be a lesson to every cheating man. The average cheating husband knows very little about the woman he is cheating with. So he has no idea of what his mistress is capable of doing, or how she could ruin his life if the situation gets out of control. He’s so eager for sex that he never even bothers to check out her reputation, her background, her motives or her temperament to see what kind of person he is dealing with. If he did, he might have second thoughts about getting involved. It might even convince him to mend his cheating ways. In my 15 years as an infidelity expert, I have never once interviewed, consulted with, or even heard of a cheating man checking his mistress out. For a list of questions a cheating man should ask himself about his mistress, see http://bit.ly/ctOyK What he doesnt know about his mistress could cost him his money, his marriage, his job, his health, his reputation, and maybe even his life.
Melissa Barlow
October 26th, 2009 - 8:58:28 PM
I also went to Catholic school my entire life (including an all female high school) and was NEVER told that infidelity was okay as long as you were in "love".