Radar

Duly Noted
Eric Montross Would Like You to Know He's Never Met Rielle Hunter, Thank You Very Much

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MISSED CONNECTIONS? Edwards, Montross (l.), Hunter (r.)
Last week, we culled together some thinly sourced material from around the Internet and posted an (admittedly) wildly speculative theory about how Tar Heel and former professional basketball player Eric Montross was the guy paying off both John Edwards' alleged mistress Rielle Hunter as well as Andrew Young, the professed father of Hunter's (Edwards?) kid. Which would be news to Eric Montross! "I don't have anything to do with this," Montross told Radar by phone. "Whatever is going on with Edwards, I can tell you unequivocally that I am uninvolved."

Montross adds that he "has never even heard of Rielle Hunter," much less met her in the flesh or provide her with shelter and/or cash payments. "I hope for their sake the situation gets dealt with and sorted out, but that's of no interest of mine. It doesn't make or break me if it's true because I am not involved at all," he says. "I have no idea who she is, or if she's a real person. I have no idea what this story is about. I am 100 percent detached."

Montross' name first entered the fray after a right-wing blog posted an anonymous tip that Hunter was staying at the house of a former NBA player and Edwards backer. Another blog cross-referenced the two groups and came up with Montross, who, like Edwards, is a UNC graduate, and who happens to live close to Edwards' campaign headquarters in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. After the Enquirer's story about an anonymous money man paying Hunter $15,000 a week in hush money was published last week, Montross' name was made its way into the comments sections of multiple blogs.

Asked to speculate how his name got linked to the scandal, Montross said, "I do support John Edwards, and I like what he is about politically. I guess maybe someone was trying to tie knots and connect dots, but it's mind boggling that someone would try to put me in that situation."

By Neel Shah   08/04/08 5:10 PM
Related: Duly Noted, Erin Montross, John Edwards, Pop, Rielle Hunter, Scandal
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