SAVANNAH, Georgia — A male runner seen slapping the rear end of a female TV reporter during a 10k race has been banned by organizers from future events.
“We will not tolerate behavior like this at a Savannah Sports Council event,” the organization says in a statement on its Twitter account. “We have made the decision to ban this individual from registering for all Savannah Sports Council owned races.”
A video posted on Twitter by WSAV reporter Alex Bozarjian shows the incident, which occurred as she was reporting live from the Savannah Bridge Run 10K on Saturday. As dozens of runners pass, a male can be seen leaning over and appears to slap Bozjarian on the rear. Bozjarian is momentarily stunned before she manages to continue her report.
However, Bozjarian says in her Twitter post, which went viral, that the male runner “violated, objectified, and embarrassed me. No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better." The video clip has more than 11.1 million views.
To the man who smacked my butt on live TV this morning: You violated, objectified, and embarrassed me. No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better. https://t.co/PRLXkBY5hn
— Alex Bozarjian (@wsavalexb) December 7, 2019
Officials with the Savannah Sports Council say they were able to identify the male because of his race bib. They say they shared the information with Bozarjian and the TV station. A spokesperson with the Savannah Police Department tells NBC News that they have been in contact with Bozarjian and say it’s up to her if she wants to pursue a criminal complaint.