More than a decade after becoming an unwilling figure in one of sports media’s most notorious scandals, Jenn Sterger is finally telling her side in Netflix’s new documentary, offering raw insight into how the fallout shaped her life and career.
The scandal that wasn’t hers to own
In 2010, Jenn Sterger was a rising sports media personality working as a gameday host for the New York Jets. Her career took an abrupt and traumatic turn when Deadspin published a story revealing that NFL legend Brett Favre had sent her a string of unsolicited and explicit messages — including a photograph of his genitals. The incident, widely referred to as the “Brett Favre sexting scandal,” made national headlines. But while Favre remained largely shielded by his fame, Sterger bore the brunt of the public backlash.
Now, with the release of UNTOLD: The Fall of Favre on Netflix, Sterger is stepping into the spotlight again — this time on her own terms. In the documentary, she recounts not just the events that occurred behind the scenes, but also the emotional toll of being treated as collateral damage in a media storm she never asked for. “I was never treated like a person,” Sterger says in one particularly harrowing scene. “To them, I was just a picture. And he was Brett Favre.”
An unwanted encounter that never happened
Sterger’s revelations in the documentary clarify a key aspect often overlooked in public discourse: she and Favre never actually met. “We’ve never been in the same room. We’ve never shaken hands,” she says. The quarterback, who played for the Jets during Sterger’s tenure with the team in 2008, reportedly saw her in a stadium tunnel and asked a staff member for her phone number. That number, Sterger says, was given without her consent — a violation that led to a barrage of messages, voicemails, and ultimately, the now-infamous photo.
Despite the deeply personal and invasive nature of the messages, Sterger never intended to make the issue public. In fact, she only mentioned it casually during a conversation with fellow sports journalist A.J. Daulerio, who at the time was the editor-in-chief of Deadspin. He would go on to publish the information without her permission, catapulting the private ordeal into an uncontrollable public scandal.
The fallout and the failure of empathy
The immediate aftermath was devastating for Sterger. Instead of support, she faced a media and fan backlash that questioned her motives and blamed her for the scandal. The documentary includes clips of commentators ridiculing her and speculating about her intentions, while the man at the center of the scandal remained largely untouched. “We’ve seen this too many times,” journalist Jemele Hill notes in the documentary. “When a superstar athlete is accused of inappropriate behavior, it’s always the woman who suffers.”
Sterger began to retreat from the public eye. Once a confident and ambitious broadcaster, she suddenly found herself navigating a world that had turned against her. The emotional toll is palpable in the film. “It’s hard for people to feel empathy for me because they don’t see me as real,” she says. That dehumanization, combined with the betrayal of having her story taken and told without her consent, left lasting scars.
A broader pattern of Misconduct
The Fall of Favre goes beyond Sterger’s story to paint a broader picture of the former quarterback’s decline. From a revered Green Bay Packers hero to a figure embroiled in both a sexting scandal and a welfare fraud case in Mississippi, Favre’s legacy is now mired in controversy. While he declined to participate in the Netflix project and has denied all allegations in the welfare case, the documentary highlights the contradictions in how public figures are held accountable — or not.
Sterger’s account adds a vital human dimension to that conversation. Her story isn’t just about one man’s misconduct; it’s about how women in male-dominated industries are often disbelieved, discredited, and discarded when they speak out. As her former bodyguard puts it in the documentary: “She was just trying to do her job. And for that, she became a target.”
Reclaiming the narrative
By sharing her story in UNTOLD, Sterger is reclaiming a narrative that was stolen from her nearly 15 years ago. She is not just the woman from the headlines anymore — she is a full person, telling the world what really happened and how it felt. And in doing so, she challenges both the sports world and the media industry to reconsider how they treat victims, especially women, when powerful men are involved.
Sterger ends her participation in the documentary with a quiet but powerful reminder: she never wanted to be part of this story. She wanted a career, a chance to succeed in sports media. What she got was something entirely different — but now, at least, she finally has the chance to speak.
