There’s no shortage of dialogue about sexual harassment in the news these days, but what happens when that harassment is literally in the news? Like, in the middle of a news broadcast? While reporting from the outside of BMO Stadium after a Toronto FC game — on Mother’s Day no less — CityNews reporter Shauna Hunt confronted several upstanding gentlemen who decided to pepper her live broadcast with shouts of “F*** her in the p***y.” The phrase wasn’t chosen at random, either — it’s part of a disturbingly viral prank, wherein young men (and others) hijack female journalists live on the air, grabbing their microphones and sharing their misogyny with the masses. (According to Toronto Police spokesperson Meaghan Gray, in some circumstances, the “fun” meme might legally qualify as sexual harrassment, and could lead to charges and arrest.)
Rather than idly tolerating the insulting behaviour, in a decidedly boss turn of events, a fed-up Hunt decided to leverage her media credentials and took her trolls to task on camera. “You know I’m sick of this,” Hunt said. “I get this every single day, 10 times a day…. It’s disrespectful and degrading." Hunt continued, noting the timeliness of the guys’ remarks: “And if your mom had saw you talk like this?” she asked. “Oh, my mom would die laughing — eventually,” one guy replied. Cool story, bro. And good on you, Shauna.
Update: Maple Leafs Sports Entertainment released a statement Tuesday morning saying the organization plans to ban fans who yell obscenities at reporters from all MLSE venues. CityNews also tweeted that one of the men, a Hydro One employee, has since been fired.
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