*A viral video shows a local news reporter from Rochester, New York’s Spectrum News 1, being harassed by a man as she and her crew set up to go live on the air.
Brianna Hamblin posted a video of her encounter with “disgusting” male hecklers who comment on Hamblin’s appearance. She appears to be mexied-race, light skin with light-colored eyes.
“You look nice, by the way,” said one man, who walked away, while another said: “You’re beautiful as hell.”
Hamblin looks visibly uncomfortable, telling him, “Go find a TV and watch Spectrum News.”
Watch the moment via the Twitter clip below.
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 man continued by making several racially charged comments against white women.
“You see that’s why I can’t be left alone with a black woman, or a mulatto chick. Cause I can’t stand these f—ing white girls,” he says.
“Alright. We are done here,” Hamblin says. “Have a great rest of your day.”
“You are sexy as f–k,” the man continues, before finally walking away.
The camera zooms in on Hamblin’s face — and she’s clearly stunned.
“Oh my God,” she says.
Hamblin tweeted about the incident, noting such confrontations “happens so often you learn how to roll with it or ignore it.”
“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,” she wrote. “This time it happened to be recorded only seconds before my hit. There are A LOT of things wrong with this.”
“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?
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Hamblin’s comments received support from others several female colleagues, journalists, and entertainers, including Kathy Griffin, Rex Chapman, ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Dallas reporter Lynnanne Nyguyen, Lubbock reporter Blair Sabol, and Andrew Baglini, meteorologist for CBS WIVB in Buffalo, NY, were among those voicing sympathy.
Hamblin thanked them all, writing, “I see it and I appreciate it so much.”
