Kelly Stafford, wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, has co-hosted The Morning After podcast with Detroit TV reporter Hank Winchester since 2023, though he had been absent from regular weekly episodes since June due to an ongoing investigation into an accusation of sexual advances during a massage.
The longtime Detroit reporter returned to the podcast on Monday after he had been cleared in that investigation.
“There was an allegation that was made against me by someone, and police have a responsibility in these situations to investigate allegations,” said Winchester. “But they should also take the time to investigate the person making the allegations. It is kind of one of the lessons I’ve learned in all of this. And as a result of some action that was taken by the local law enforcement, there was a local media report that was done by one station in particular, and that really kind of spread like wildfire.”
The Emmy-winning reporter, who had been placed on administrative leave with Local 4 News, did not specify the local news report in question. Attorneys for Winchester also said in a Friday press conference that their client was the victim of allegations that spread internationally after a TV station published a story.
WJBK-TV (Fox 2 Detroit), one of several local stations to report the story, said that police searched Winchester’s home and that “the accusations against him stem from alleged sexual advances he made to a man during a massage.” They also reported that a search warrant was executed at Winchester’s residence on June 13 over the allegations, and electronics were seized from his home.
“As a result, it led to a very detailed and necessary investigation,” Winchester said, via the New York Post. “I say necessary because if it’s going to happen, I want to know that investigators had every opportunity to look at everything they needed to, which they did, and determine that in this case, that allegation was unfounded, it was baseless, it was defamatory. And that was the opportunity now for my attorneys to come out… but I’m very thankful for that. And I’m very thankful to be on the other side of this. One-hundred percent clear. No charges. The evidence spoke for itself.
“But I will tell you it was an emotionally exhausting process, as my attorneys revealed. I took two polygraph tests and passed them with flying colors, and there was no detection of any deception. And I did that voluntarily because it was important for me to make sure the investigators had everything they needed. That’s pretty much all I can say about it… It just essentially comes down to not me saying thank you.”
Stafford shared her relief that the ordeal was over.
“I do hope you felt how much you’re cared about and loved because you are, and it’s because of the person you are, Hank,” Stafford said. “…It was honestly hard because for a minute there I felt like I couldn’t get a hold of you… I’m so f–king glad right now. I knew this was going to be the end result, but damn did it take a while to get here, but aren’t we glad that it’s finally f–king here. I don’t want to bite my tongue or get in trouble by saying too much. I’ll let you take over.”
Winchester said that this was the worst episode of his life, and he’s happy for it to be behind him.
“This was the worst nine weeks of my entire life,” he said. “And I’ve lost both my parents, I’ve had testicular cancer, I’ve gone through a divorce. I’ve had s**t. Nothing compared to this because every aspect of your life is touched.”
Winchester and Stafford met during her husband Matthew’s time with the Detroit Lions before he was traded to the Rams in 2021. Matthew and Kelly initially launched the podcast in 2021, and Winchester joined two years later.