Suzen Johnson
Suzen Johnson (born February 1951) is a former flight attendant, businesswoman and model. She had an affair with sports reporter Frank Gifford in April and May 1997. The two were photographed together,[1] bringing embarrassment to Gifford and his wife, Kathie Lee.
Life and career
Johnson was born in Washington, D.C. and later moved to Florida. She married athlete and businessman Harold E. Johnson (born 1930) who made money in the 1950s transforming gyms into fitness centers by adding services and amenities.[2] In 1989, the couple opened two unsuccessful Fabulous New Woman Health Spas in New Bedford and Fall River, Massachusetts.[3]
For many years she worked as a flight attendant for TWA, including being scheduled to work on TWA Flight 800 which crashed in 1996, but swapping shifts the day before.[4]
Johnson currently works as a real estate agent in Palm Beach, Florida.[5]
Affair with Gifford
At the end of April and beginning of May 1997, Johnson spent a week with Gifford at the Regency Hotel, in Manhattan.[6] Unbeknownst to Gifford, the weekly tabloid The Globe bugged the hotel room, concealing video cameras and eavesdropping equipment to document the affair, for which to publish the story later that May. The Globe reportedly paid Johnson, with sums mentioned from $75,000 to $125,000.
Aftermath
In November 1997, several months after the Gifford scandal, Johnson appeared on the cover of Playboy, and also appeared in a nude pictorial inside that issue.[7]
The extent to which the Globe went "to get the story" became a news issue in itself.[8][9] In January 1999, the National Enquirer published a story about the Globe paying Johnson for the story about the affair,[10] and in June 1999, she sued the publisher of The Globe, claiming that she was told the newspaper wanted to write only about their platonic relationship, and the paper had wired their hotel room without telling her.[11] Johnson said she signed an agreement with the tabloid in March 1997 in which Globe officials offered $25,000 for the Gifford story, and an additional $25,000 for a photo of them together.
In 2001, she ran a website called "SuzenJohnson.com: Frank Gifford's Mistress Tells All", with her image from the Playboy cover. On the site, she wrote about her faith and her battles with the tabloids, had a picture gallery, and intended to have fitness information, a members section, and a store.[12] The site closed in 2002.
References
- ^ Elizabeth Johns (May 16, 1997). "Photos Embarrass Giffords". E! Online news. Archived from the original on 10 May 2000.
- ^ "My background in the health and fitness industry". Archived from the original on August 7, 2001. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) SuzenJohnson.com - ^ Gifford scandal hits home Chris Gonsalves, The New Bedford Standard-Times June 5, 1997
- ^ "My story". Archived from the original on August 7, 2001. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) SuzenJohnson.com - ^ Suzen Sells Palm Beach
- ^ "The Top 5 Most Asked Questions About the Gifford Relationship". Archived from the original on June 9, 2001. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) SuzenJohnson.com - ^ Frank Gifford's Mistress Exposed in "Playboy" Marcus Errico, E! Online news, August 8, 1997
- ^ 'Yellow journalism': quaint concept in today's 'untidy' media world Paul Eisenberg, Media Studies Center, May 19, 1998, hosted by the Freedom Forum
- ^ Taming the Tabloids Darcie Lunsford, American Journalism Review, September 2000
- ^ Tabloid loses fight to stop rival from publishing Gifford affair story Associated Press, January 4, 1999, hosted by the Freedom Forum
- ^ Gifford's mistress sues tabloid CNN Showbuzz, June 23, 1999
- ^ "SuzenJohnson.com". Archived from the original on February 1, 2001. Retrieved 2006-05-10.
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