New Orleans Pelicans emails scandal: Owner Gayle Benson's role in clergy abuse case coverage reportedly under scrutiny

The New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints' top executives, including owner Gayle Benson, are under heavy fire right now. According to The Guardian, Benson is currently being tied to a scandal involving the New Orleans' Roman Catholic archdiocese, reportedly helping soften the news coverage regarding their management of a clergy-abuse scandal.

A lawsuit shed light on some emails proving Benson's role in the alleged attempt to soften the massive PR blow the church had taken. Her spokesperson, Greg Bensel, also got tangled up in the scandal.

The plaintiff got access to the correspondence through a subpoena. They argue that those emails should be made public, but Benson's camp argues that they should be protected, adding that the disclosure of such material to the press was "a violation of a court order protecting them."

While this is a new turn of events, this story goes back years. The New Orleans' archdiocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection back in May 2020.

The move was allegedly made as an attempt to protect themselves from several pending lawsuits of alleged decades-old child molestation scandals and accusations.

That legal move delayed any potential litigation against them indefinitely, but the plaintiffs and their lawyer decided to transfer the case to the Federal courthouse in New Orleans to proceed.

Then, Judge Susie Morgan granted the attorneys permission to file multiple evidentiary exhibit records under seal. Less than two weeks later, the judge allowed the archdiocesan attorneys to file 14 additional exhibits. However, the order doesn't claim the said exhibits would be protected or kept under seal.

Thus, the plaintiff's lawyers claim that the e-mails involving Benson technically weren't protected by the court.

NBA might look deeper into Pelicans' Gayle Benson's role in this scandal

The NBA has usually taken a zero-tolerance policy regarding team owners being tangled up in scandals.

They laid the hammer on former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling when his racist remarks about Magic Johnson went viral, and they recently forced Robert Sarver to sell the Phoenix Suns after an investigation.

Whether they will look to dig deeper into this matter remains to be seen, but commissioner Adam Silver has usually been swift with these kinds of situations.