Video Shows Reporter Brianna Hamblin Being Harassed While Working
A video of Brianna Hamblin, a reporter for Spectrum News 1 in Rochester, New York, has gone viral on social media Friday after she shared footage of being harassed by two men while preparing for a segment.
“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,” she explained in a tweet.
In the video, Hamblin is told “You look nice by the way,” as she stands before the camera and she replied, “thank you.”
Hamlin’s attention turns toward her cell phone when she is approached by a white man.
“You’re beautiful as hell, god—,” the unidentified man said.
Hamblin politely accepted his comments but he persisted. He demanded to know why she was in front of the camera.
“Go find a TV and watch Spectrum News,” she relayed to him with a forced smile.
The man went on to say.
“See that’s why I can’t be left alone with a Black woman,” the man declared and added that he couldn’t control himself around “mulatto” women, a racial phrase referring to people of mixed heritage. “Because I can’t stand these f—– white girls.”
“All right, we are done here,” Hamblin interjects, pursing her lips with visible discomfort. “Have a great rest of your day.”
At this point, the voices of the men become hard to distinguish. A man’s voice can be heard declaring, “You are sexy as f—.”
“Oh my God,” Hamblin responded.
Hamblin expounded on her discomfort via her Twitter.
“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,” she 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.”
Hamblin added that she did not appreciate the comparison that was made between her and women of different races.
“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 showed gratitude to photographer Scott Barlow for being present with her at the time she was approached.
“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’s not safe. It’s scary. But the convo about the dangers of reporters working alone is for another day.