‘NEVER okay’: Men harass TV reporter before her Live shot, disturbing moments captured on camera

The video showed Hamblin waiting by the side in front of a home waiting to deliver a news report. Several men can be heard in the background, with one exclaiming profanity at the bright camera light early in morning.

“You look nice, by the way,” the man who had been yelling expletives in the background said as he passed by.

Hamblin, who attempted to avoid engaging by looking down, however, couldn’t stop the man from continuing to bother her. “You’re beautiful as hell,” he is heard off-camera, to which she replied, “Thank you,” so that the matter does not escalate.

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

After the men continued commenting on her appearance and what she was doing there, Hamblin kept calm and politely asked them to check her channel to find out. But things took a bad turn, when one of the men harassing her, began making vulgar and abusive racist comments.

“See that’s why I can’t be left alone with a Black woman,” he continued adding he can’t be controlled around “Mulatto” women. For the uninitiated, Mulatto is a racial phrase referring to people of mixed white and black ancestry.

“Because I can’t stand these f***ing white girls,” he added. At this, Hamblin finally interjects and was heard saying, “All right, we are done here.” Visibly in discomfort, she tried to maintain her composure and concluded, “Have a great rest of your day.”

But even that doesn’t stop the man, as the camera keeps rolling for her to go live, the male voice was heard yelling, “You’re sexy as f**k,” even as the journalist looked uncomfortable.

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

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

She also mentioned that at least this time she was accompanied by photographer Scott Barstow and that the work of women who are reporting in the field alone is “not safe” and “scary”. “But the convo about the dangers of reporters working alone is for another day,” she concluded her thread, which has started a serious conversation online.

The video left netizens furious online, while many female reporters said this happens too often. While many glad that she wasn’t alone this time, they felt the cameraman should have intervened and stopped the men than keeping the camera running. Twitterati also highlighted how the reporter handled it but stresses it is high time women shouldn’t have to go through this just to do their job well.

Watched this with equal parts fury and empathy. So many women endure this kind of abuse in the field. You handled it like a pro, @BriReports 🙌🏼 https://t.co/sdBS8o2i5W

— Lisa Guerrero 💃🏽 (@4lisaguerrero) July 24, 2021

Unfortunately this is all too familiar for so many female reporters – I had an experience like this out filming just yesterday https://t.co/9fRyTd8fRR

— Clodagh Rice (@ClodaghLRice) July 24, 2021

From watching this can you feel the sense of being violeted?💔 https://t.co/dTWOcB6Upr

— Prince (@RoyalVhadau) July 24, 2021

this is why i stand by “all men”. look who said something to defend her? nobody. not even a cameraman. https://t.co/L9E8Sx5MIj

— maya (@donottrustxy) July 24, 2021

Every day women endure this. Every day women are expected to smile and try and diffuse men–never know what could be next. Watch this video, read this thread. Look at Brianna Hamblin’s face when the camera zooms in. It’s not right. https://t.co/ICeOyKYF1w

— Victoria Brownworth #GetVaccinatedNOW (@VABVOX) July 24, 2021

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

— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) July 23, 2021

The zoom in on your eyes broke my heart.

— Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) July 23, 2021

So sorry you had to deal with this. I have three daughters myself, and sometimes I try to think how to teach them to deal with this in the future. The lack of manners is sad. I always tell my friends with sons: Raise gentlemen. Thanks for sharing!

— Sebas M. Christensen (@SebastianMCESPN) July 23, 2021

God, I am so sorry this happened to you. Harassment in the field does happen to us all, but the racial component of this makes it so much worse. My heart breaks seeing this. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to show the grace and professionalism you did. Big hugs.

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) July 23, 2021

Those “only words” were hurtful, as we saw when you zoomed in on her pained reaction. You could’ve asked the men to step away but then they would’ve focused on you, right? Best to let her shoulder the burden on her own, right? Do better. Don’t wait for it escalate beyond words.

— Nichole 🍞🍯 (@tnwhiskeywoman) July 23, 2021

What’s infuriating is that as a woman I watched this video and realized I literally got so used to this that my first thought was “at least he kept his distance, when they’re up in ur face it’s much scarier” 🤦🏿‍♀️

— the big kahuna 🇭🇹 (@ladycassu) July 23, 2021

Yep. This is something you deal with from childhood on. Don’t say hi and you mostly likely get anger, cursing, maybe even threats. For being “too good” to say hi or whatever. It’s awful women can’t just live without being harassed.

— Francesca (@Cessieca) July 23, 2021

It’s at 1.06 moment you see her feeling violated. The mortified look that many women will know 💔. I am so sorry you had to go through this . pic.twitter.com/ShMFSL2v6o

— Marie Claire . She/Her (@marieClaireJR) July 23, 2021

The camera guy (I presume) who shouted 40 seconds wasn’t aware that he gave those guys a timetable to harass her. 😔

— 🇺🇸💚🧡Jour in NY wear ur masks 🧡💚🇺🇸 (@DestroyGQP21) July 23, 2021

This perfectly described her expression. She looked so violated. It’s sad bc if you are aggressive, people blame you for why the perp got aggressive. If you stand there and just engage with them, you get blamed for egging it on even tho it was to survive (also ppl have anxiety).

— JiffyWaffles (@BandianaO) July 23, 2021

The video went viral and got everyone talking and her employers too issued a statement. “We are glad that Brianna wasn’t alone in the face of such adversity and we’ve never been more proud of her,” Spectrum News told Jezebel a statement.

“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,” Shari Culpepper, a spokesperson for the company told Buzzfeed News.