Reporter Brianna Hamblin with Spectrum News 1 in Rochester, New York shared a painfully uncomfortable video of her being sexually harassed by a man on the street just before she was about to go on air.
She tweeted the video which now has 5.4 million views.
Hamblin captioned the video with:
"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."
Content warning: inappropriate language, sexual harassment.
The video of Hamblin shows her standing in front of the camera on a sidewalk while the camera person begins filming in preparation for her infield report.
One man approached her and said:
"You look, nice by the way."
Hamblin replied with a "thank you" and checked her phone as he walked away.
The second man approached with more aggression and said to Hamblin:
"You're beautiful as hell, goddamn."
She again replied with a "thank you" and tried to ignore the man.
As the man asked about why she was going to be on camera, Hamblin tried to get him to leave by suggesting:
"Go find a TV and watch Spectrum News. You can find out."
She pointed the opposite direction to shoo him away, but to no avail as he said:
"See, that's why I can't be left alone with a Black woman. Or a mulatto chick. 'Cause I can't stand these fucking White girls."
Hamblin was clearly very uncomfortable with the conversation as she nervously smiled and clutched her phone while crossing her arms across the front of her body.
Through an awkward smile she said:
"Alight, we are done here. Have a great rest of your day."
You could hear the man walk away still shout sexist statements about Hamblin's appearance.
Hamblin continued in a Twitter thread about the incident, pointing out how disgusting this whole situation was.
She also pointed out how this could have gone differently had Scott Barstow, the photographer behind the camera, not been there.
Buzzfeed News was given a statement by Spectrum News' parent parent company Charter Communications.
Their spokes person Shari Culpepper said:
"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."
So many people shared how they have experienced similar situations such as this one.
Freelancer for Rochester Business Journal Caurie Putnam also responded to Hamblin's tweet.
Some people who replied to the thread thought Barstow should have done more, but some disagreed.
Barstow initially replied but they have since been deleted:
"I can say is it hurts to see this. I'm sorry I stood there while you have to hear that."
"This isn't the first time you have heard this. I would say more like the 50th."
"I know it's easy for me to say but it's only words."
@_saltyaf/Twitter
Regardless of if Barstow should have said something to stop the man or stayed quiet to not escalate the situation, this shouldn't have happened in the first place.
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