ESPN announced this past June its printed property, ESPN The Magazine, would produce “The Body” issue. Male and female athletes would pose sans clothing (don’t get too crazy, people, they’ll be positioned, um, properly) in an effort to compete with Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue, which gets closer and closer to porn each year.
Thursday’s Internet rumor of the day focused on IndyCar driver Danica Patrick being among the athletes who posed for the October issue. It has been met with conflicting reports from all sides. All depends on what links Google serves up first when you search for it. Newsday
A representative for the public relations first that helps represent Patrick informed that “Danica is NOT confirmed to appear in the issue, nor has she even been approached.”
ESPN The Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Gary Belsky, said in an e-mail the magazine’s officials would not say who will be in the issue.
Patrick appeared in this year’s SI swimsuit issue.
If she can’t beat ‘em on the track, she might as well tantalize them off it. Las Vegas Review - Journal
“We are not announcing which athletes are participating in The Body Issue at this time,” Belsky, wrote in an e-mail. “When we do reveal the participant list, we will not reveal who disrobed and who did not. The photos will answer most such questions, of course; and we will otherwise let the individual athletes reveal, should they so choose, whether they removed all clothing for our shoots.”
“Some are fully disrobing, some are not. That’s why we’re calling it The Body Issue, not The Nude Issue. In every case, the photos are appropriate and tasteful. The Body Issue is a celebration and exploration of the athletic form in all its glory and extremes, situated within the boundaries of taste and the frontiers of artistic excellence upon which ESPN The Magazine and ESPN have built their reputations.” CNBC
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