‘Sexy as F*ck’: Local Reporter Keeps Cool As Man Harasses Her With Sexist and Racist Catcalls
“Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son,” Dean Wormer famously lectured the Delta fraternity brothers in the 1978 movie Animal House. Sexist, racist, and stupid isn’t a great life plan either, as a local reporter in Rochester, New York would likely agree after she was harassed on camera by an obnoxious man who walked by as she was setting up a live shot.
Spectrum News Rochester’s Brianna Hamblin was with her cameraman Scott Barstow in a residential neighborhood — not broadcasting live yet but the camera was recording as they prepared for the segment. A man walking down the sidewalk expressed his annoyance about not wanting to be on camera. After Barstow told him they weren’t live yet, the man said thank you and “you look nice” to Hamblin.
The second man who passed by was far less cordial.
“You’re beautiful as hell,” he said to Hamblin, who said “thank you” with a tight smile.
“I better not be on the motherfucking camera,” he said, asking why they were in the area. She replied that he should watch Spectrum News and find out.
“See, that’s why I can’t be left alone with a Black woman, or a mulatto chick,” the man said. “Because I can’t stand these fucking white girls.”
“Alright,” said Hamblin, looking at the camera. “We are done here. Have a great rest of your day.”
“You are sexy as fuck,” the man said, continuing to talk to himself as he walked away.
The camera zoomed in on Hamblin’s face. “Oh, my God,” she said.
Hamblin posted the video on her Twitter account in a thread that thanked Barstow for being there with her and called out how sadly common it was for female reporters, specifically women of color, to be harassed.
“There are a LOT of things wrong with this,” Hamblin wrote. “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.” She also called out the “disgusting fetish based on stereotypes” shown by his comments.
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
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
UPDATE — 8:04 pm ET: Spectrum News said in a statement provided to Mediaite, “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.”
Watch the video above, via Twitter.
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