Reporter Brianna Hamblin held her own as a bystander verbally accosted her, hurling racist and sexist comments while she was on camera.
Hamblin, on location in a residential neighborhood, was preparing for a live shot on Spectrum News Rochester when two men passed by, each stopping to speak to her. She shared the clip to Twitter on Friday. (RELATED: CNN Reporter’s Live Shot At Supreme Court Crashed By Hecklers Shouting ‘Fake News’)
WATCH (language warning):
WARNING: CRUDE LANGUAGE
Being hit on and harassed as a woman, especially as a woman reporter out in the field, happens so often you learn how to roll with it or ignore it. This time it happened to be recorded only seconds before my hit. There are A LOT of things wrong with this. pic.twitter.com/5Ok58Vm7e0— Brianna Hamblin (@BriReports) July 23, 2021
The first man to pass by made it clear that he did not want to be on camera, but his attitude changed when Hamblin told him they were not yet live. “You look nice,” he said before walking away.
“You’re beautiful as hell,” the second man said as he approached Hamblin.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“I better not be on the motherf**king camera,” the man said then, and he asked what story she was there to report on.
“Go find a TV and watch Spectrum News, you can find out,” Hamblin said, at which point his comments quickly got more aggressive and offensive.
“See, that’s why I can’t be left alone with a black woman, or a mulatto chick. Because I can’t stand these fucking white girls,” he said.
Hamblin ignored him and spoke directly to her camera: “We are done here. Have a great rest of your day.”
The man kept talking to her as he turned to leave, saying, “You are sexy as f**k.”
“Oh, my God,” was Hamblin’s only response as he left.
Hamblin then shared the video of the encounter on Twitter, adding some context and additional thoughts in a series of tweets.
1.If you don’t want to be on camera, simply avoid it or ask nicely to not be on camera. Don’t walk towards it or make a scene. Who said this was about you?
— Brianna Hamblin (@BriReports) July 23, 2021
2.“Oh, men these days just can’t give compliments.” No. The first man’s “you look nice” as he continued to walk away is fine. It’s the 2nd man who took this to another disgusting level it didn’t need to be.
— Brianna Hamblin (@BriReports) July 23, 2021
3.The audacity of the things men say to me never ceases to amaze me. What makes you think women want to be talked to that way? In no way is this endearing. It’s uncomfortable. It’s gross.
— Brianna Hamblin (@BriReports) July 23, 2021
4.Being a Black woman in this industry has its own headaches, but talking down on one group of women to “praise” another group is NEVER okay. It just shows you have a disgusting fetish based on stereotypes, which is just as racist.
— Brianna Hamblin (@BriReports) July 23, 2021
I could go on but I’ll stop there. Posting this and getting off social media to enjoy the rest of my Friday ✌️🏽
— Brianna Hamblin (@BriReports) July 23, 2021
OH WAIT! One more thing: I was LUCKY I had @barstow_scott with me. At my last job, I had to deal with this type of stuff ALONE, like most women MMJs. It’s not safe. It’s scary. But the convo about the dangers of reporters working alone is for another day
— Brianna Hamblin (@BriReports) July 23, 2021
Spectrum News provided the Daily Caller with a statement on the incident:
“We are glad that Brianna wasn’t alone in the face of such adversity and we’ve never been more proud of her. She handled the situation impeccably, remaining calm and professional throughout. We want our employees to feel safe and are constantly working towards achieving that goal.”
