Men Break Down Reading Mean Tweets to Female Sports Reporters – ABC News

A video of male sports fans reading “real comments about women sports reporters to their face” has been watched online by millions of people.

The team behind Just Not Sports, a podcast dedicated to sports culture, asked “a mix of people,” including friends and family, to read mean and often harassing tweets to sports journalists Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro.

“Sarah Spain sounds like a nagging wife on TV today,” one man says to the Chicago-based reporter in the video.

“I’m not even married yet,” she deadpans in response.

In a matter of minutes, the video goes from awkward and uncomfortable to shocking thanks to one man’s tweet that references DiCaro’s coverage of hockey player Patrick Kane’s rape allegations.

He reads in the video: “Why bring up your own rape in the story? Is it your way of firing back at critics who said you can’t get any?”

“That’s something, huh?” DiCaro replies, forcing an immediate apology from the man.

The video has sparked a conversation about the line between harmless online trolling and online harassment. In fact, many other female sports reporters have sounded off on social media, saying they’ve also been subject to similar online hateful speech.

Just Not Sports’ co-host Brad Burke, who came up with the concept for the video, told ABC News the men featured in the video had no idea what they’d be reading when they sat down to film. And when they began reading the truly vicious tweets, Burke, 36, recalled, “the air got sucked out of the room.”

“What we saw was a visceral reaction that reminds us, it’s one thing to write these words onscreen, but it’s another thing to say it aloud to someone’s face,” he added.

Burke said that he and his three co-hosts “appreciate” that the video has captured the Internet’s attention.

“This is Julie’s story and this is Sarah’s story…and all we did was film it,” he said. “The attention around this video will be gone in a few days — or however long — but the trolls will still be there. So for the rest of us, let’s stay mindful and stay supportive.”