HOPE SOLO (PART 3)

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16 Mar 2024

HOPE SOLO (PART 3)

Hope Solo's legal issues have garnered significant media attention over the years. On June 21, 2014, she was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault in the fourth degree, one involving her half-sister and the other concerning her nephew. Despite pleading not guilty, Solo faced legal proceedings, with her trial initially scheduled for November 2014 but delayed until January 2015. Following her arrest, Solo missed one game for the Seattle Reign FC, but the National Women's Soccer League allowed her to continue playing through the end of the 2014 season, sparking debate in the media about potential double standards compared to similar cases involving male athletes.

Ultimately, on January 13, 2015, the charges against Solo were dismissed due to a lack of cooperation from the alleged victims. However, prosecutors filed an appeal, leading to the reinstatement of charges in October 2015. Solo attempted to challenge the case in court, but her petition for review was denied by the state appeals court in June 2016. The legal proceedings continued until May 24, 2018, when the city of Kirkland dismissed all domestic violence charges against her.

In addition to her own legal issues, Solo's husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, faced legal trouble of his own when he was arrested for suspicion of DUI in January 2015. This incident resulted in Solo being suspended for 30 days by the U.S. Soccer team due to her involvement in the situation.More recently, on March 31, 2022, Solo was arrested again, this time for driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest, and misdemeanor child abuse. The incident occurred in a Walmart parking lot in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with Solo's two-year-old twins present in the car. Solo later pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, while the charges of resisting arrest and child abuse were dismissed.

Hope Solo has been involved in various endorsement deals throughout her career, aligning with brands such as Seiko, Simple Skincare, Nike, BlackBerry, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, and Gatorade. Additionally, she signed a one-year endorsement deal with Bank of America in July 2011 and appeared in a television commercial promoting FIFA 12 alongside professional basketball player Steve Nash in September 2011. Solo also co-starred with national teammate Alex Morgan in a commercial for ESPN's SportsCenter in the same month. In 2014, she was featured in a promotional piece for Western Union and signed with LX Ventures, Inc. and Mobio as a "social media influencer" in March 2014. Furthermore, in June 2016, Solo partnered with Organically Raw to promote its Shanti Bar line of energy and protein bars. These endorsement deals have allowed Solo to expand her brand and presence beyond the soccer field.

Hope Solo has had a diverse media presence, appearing on various television shows and documentaries throughout her career. In 2011, she participated as a contestant on the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars, partnering with Maksim Chmerkovskiy and finishing fourth overall in the competition. Solo has also made appearances on numerous talk shows, including The Late Show with David Letterman, Piers Morgan Tonight, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Chelsea Lately, and Whitney.

She was the subject of an ESPN E:60 episode in 2012, where she discussed her experiences at the 2007 World Cup and her upbringing. Solo was also featured in the PBS documentary Makers: Women Who Make America and ESPN's Nine for IX documentary series. One of the documentaries, Branded, focused on the marketing of female professional athletes and the double standards they face. It received high viewership among the series.

Solo starred alongside teammates Megan Rapinoe and Crystal Dunn in the docu-series Keeping Score, which followed the athletes as they prepared for the 2016 Rio Olympics and addressed issues such as equal pay and racism. The series concluded with Solo's reaction to her suspension from the national team.Solo served as the host for the sports medical television series The Cutting Edge in February 2017 and was featured on 60 Minutes Sports in the same month. Additionally, in June 2017, she appeared alongside Eric Cantona in a Eurosport promo segment, where she was humorously presented as the network's "Commissioner of Women's Football." Solo also worked as a pundit for the BBC during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Hope Solo has been prominently featured on the covers of several notable magazines, including Fitness, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, TV Guide, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, and Vogue. In 2011, she made a bold statement by posing nude for The Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine. Regarding her decision to participate in the shoot, Solo expressed pride in being recognized as a top female athlete, stating, "I'm an athlete—that's all I am. If a sex symbol is now a top female athlete, I think that's pretty amazing and it shows how far our country has come from the stick-thin models, from what you see in most magazines." This gesture reflected Solo's confidence and her desire to challenge traditional notions of beauty and femininity in the media.

Hope Solo's autobiography, titled "Solo: A Memoir of Hope," was released on August 14, 2012, shortly after the London Olympics. Co-authored with sports columnist and commentator Ann Killion and published by HarperCollins, the book provided Solo's firsthand accounts of various incidents, including her experiences with former U.S. national coach Greg Ryan and her time on Dancing with the Stars with partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

In addition to these insights, Solo offered readers a glimpse into her integration into the U.S. national team alongside established players such as Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and Julie Foudy. The autobiography also delved into details of Solo's early life, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of her journey to becoming one of the top goalkeepers in women's soccer.Upon its release, "Solo: A Memoir of Hope" achieved significant success, debuting at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list in the hardcover non-fiction category. Notably, it became the highest-ranking book about soccer to date on the list, solidifying Solo's impact both on and off the field.