TV Reporter Calls Out Men For Making Crude Comments To Her Right Before She Went Live On Air

WARNING: CRUDE LANGUAGE\nBeing 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 (@Brianna Hamblin) 1627059337

1.If you don\u2019t want to be on camera, simply avoid it or ask nicely to not be on camera. Don\u2019t walk towards it or make a scene. Who said this was about you?

— Brianna Hamblin (@Brianna Hamblin) 1627059338

2.\u201cOh, men these days just can\u2019t give compliments.\u201d No. The first man\u2019s \u201cyou look nice\u201d as he continued to walk away is fine. It\u2019s the 2nd man who took this to another disgusting level it didn\u2019t need to be.

— Brianna Hamblin (@Brianna Hamblin) 1627059338

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\u2019s uncomfortable. It\u2019s gross.

— Brianna Hamblin (@Brianna Hamblin) 1627059339

4.Being a Black woman in this industry has its own headaches, but talking down on one group of women to \u201cpraise\u201d another group is NEVER okay. It just shows you have a disgusting fetish based on stereotypes, which is just as racist.

— Brianna Hamblin (@Brianna Hamblin) 1627059339

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\u2019s not safe. It\u2019s scary. But the convo about the dangers of reporters working alone is for another day

— Brianna Hamblin (@Brianna Hamblin) 1627060604

This video is triggering. I\u2019ve been in this situation almost a hundred times - not as a reporter but as a woman just going for a walk, pumping gas in my car, or walking from my car to a store. When I was a young adult my mom told me to say hi to these men to protect my safety smh

— Miss Lefty (she/her/MOM) (@Miss Lefty (she/her/MOM)) 1627067667

Yep. This is something you deal with from childhood on. Don\u2019t say hi and you mostly likely get anger, cursing, maybe even threats. For being \u201ctoo good\u201d to say hi or whatever. It\u2019s awful women can\u2019t just live without being harassed.

— Francesca (@Francesca) 1627069955

The visible discomfort and the all too familiar forced coddling in hopes the situation doesn't escalate was heartbreaking. Women should not have to endure this just to do their job.

— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1627071288

People don\u2019t understand how problematic this is. You have to say thank you to avoid backlash but when you say it, you risk them taking it the wrong way. \n\nI would like to see the men in your crew have your back. As BW, we are there for everyone but it\u2019s not always reciprocated.

— \u2728June\u2728 (@\u2728June\u2728) 1627067635

Does that justify abuse and harassment?

— Nusrat Zahra (@Nusrat Zahra) 1627116324

You handled it admirably, lady. Sorry that was the start to your day.

— Soledad O'Brien (@Soledad O'Brien) 1627067413

Women in the workforce shouldn't have to deal with this type of stuff. It's sick. Fellas we really need to do better. Hold yourselves accountable & your homeboys. It starts with each man (& aggressive woman) looking themselves in the mirror & checking their own misconduct.

— J (@J) 1627068537

This is always such a helpless feeling because there\u2019s never a resolution. Women just have to take it. You handled it with grace, though. (Side note: can we retire the word \u201cmulatto\u201d? Old-school racial classifications are tired at this point.)

— Kyle (@Kyle) 1627066989

This kind of harassment and ogling has happened to my so many times I can\u2019t count them. It happened at work, walking down the street, at the mall, etc. You absolutely do feel violated. Trying to maintain your dignity while a man is openly saying those things is hard. SHERO!!!

— BlackGirlMagic (@BlackGirlMagic) 1627110968

What\u2019s infuriating is that as a woman I watched this video and realized I literally got so used to this that my first thought was \u201cat least he kept his distance, when they\u2019re up in ur face it\u2019s much scarier\u201d

— the big kahuna \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf9 (@the big kahuna \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf9) 1627066339

In this world Women aren\u2019t allowed to exist without random men imposing their opinions on us and being harassed. Somehow we still have to hold it together because our safety is constantly at risk, it\u2019s tiring.

— That girl. (@That girl.) 1627073856

It's not enough for men to be sorry. It's on men and men alone to change male culture. This is Job 1 if men want us to believe #NotAllMen. Call it out it whenever and wherever you see it, whoever is doing it, no matter what loss you might suffer in the male hierarchy to do so.

— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Mama Wally, APR \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Mama Wally, APR \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1627133744

I am so sorry Brianna. It angers me that so little has changed in the 20 years since I got into the field. You handled the situation beautifully, but the situation should not be occurring at all.

— Caurie Putnam (@Caurie Putnam) 1627065827

I hope every man reading this knows that every woman in his life has experienced this. Has smiled while her heart rate accelerated, had to say thank you while clenching her keys in her fist, had to quietly say, that\u2019s enough, while looking for the quickest way out. Every. Woman

— LisaF (@LisaF) 1627076988

If @barstow_scott would\u2019ve said something the situation would have probably escalated making it even more dangerous for you and him. It was a wise decision for him to hold back and keep the camera rolling. I hope news execs consider reporter safety much more.

— Higgins \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25 (@Higgins \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25) 1627075489

That's just not true. Intervening doesn't mean displaying machismo or threatening a fight. It can be as simple as "hey dude, this isn't the time or the place" or "we're about to roll, if you don't want to be on camera then step away". You can intervene without escalating.

— Tim Pierce (@Tim Pierce) 1627130194

Um, your cameraman didn\u2019t seem to do anything to tell off the guys. Not that you didn\u2019t handle it well, because you did, but you should NOT have had to do so alone. We need allies, not passive men standing by filming your interaction and closing in on your reaction. Bystander

— Norah M (@Norah M) 1627069332

If the cameraman would have stepped in, this situation would have been much, much worse. Both the cameraman and reporter handled it well.

— Bianca_Norwood.cammodels.com\u24cb\u264a (@Bianca_Norwood.cammodels.com\u24cb\u264a) 1627183022

He was there as a silent observer. I'm sure the streets are dangerous. He offered no allyship as a bystander. His zoom in during your moment of pain & strife was unnecessary. Stop filming & offer comfort... care...no he wasn't helpful in that moment.

— Lyn Davis (@Lyn Davis) 1627096873