A Spanish television reporter was in the middle of a live broadcast from the streets of Madrid when a termite came up to him and stroked his backside — leading to his arrest on sexual assault charges.
On Tuesday, Isa Balado, 30, a reporter for the Cuatro channel, reported a story about a local store clerk who beat up a suspected thief when a man with sunglasses approached him from behind, before asking him which television station he worked for.
Balado explained he was in the middle of a live broadcast and was trying to continue coverage until the studio’s host Nacho Abad stepped in.
“Isa, sorry to bother you, did he just touch your butt?” asked Abad.
“Yes,” Balado replied with an uneasy smile.
The host insisted that the reporter put the alleged grope, which he called “stupid,” on camera.
A man was seen touching the bottom of the Spanish report Isa Balado during a live television broadcast.X / En boca de todos
Balado then confronted the man and asked: “Even if you want to ask us which channel we work for, do you really have to touch my ass?”
“I’m performing live and I’m working,” he added.
The man denied touching her. When Balado insisted that he did touch her, she said “Sorry” and tried to shake his hand, but the reporter brushed him off and asked him to let her do her job.
Balado, with channel Cuatro, was reporting on a robbery in Madrid on Tuesday when he was attacked. X / En boca de todos
As he walked away, he tried to ruffle Balado’s hair as he looked down, prompting the in-studio host to call him “stupid.”
After Abad expressed his shock at what had happened, Balado apologized, and he said: “No, you have nothing to be sorry for. It made me very angry.”
Meanwhile, the man continues to linger on the street, and Balado claims that he’s not the only target of his unwanted advances.
Host Nacho Abad in the studio intervened and asked Balado if the man had touched his butt.X / En boca de todos
“It’s not just me, it happens to every woman he meets,” he said.
After the reporter admitted on camera that the meeting had made him nervous, the man approached Balado again, saying he had heard his accusations and that he should “tell the truth.”
Balado asked for the live broadcast to be cut because he did not want to give the man any more attention.
After Balado confronted the man and he apologized, he tried to ruffle her hair before walking away. X / En boca de todos
The 25-year-old suspect then approached the reporter again and denied the allegations of wrongdoing. X / En boca de todos
Channel Cuatro immediately called the police, who took the 25-year-old suspect away in handcuffs. He has not been publicly identified.
Mediaset Espana, which owns Cuatro, said it “definitely rejects any form of interference or intrusion.”
The incident sparked public outcry in Spain and was condemned by government officials, coming amid a national consideration of sexism sparked by Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss on the lips of World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso.
The television station called the police and the suspect was taken away in handcuffs minutes later. X / National Police
Rubiales resigned Sunday, three weeks after his festive antics touched off an international scandal.
Spanish Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz said Balado’s attack in the air should not go unpunished.
“It is masculinity that causes journalists to be sexually assaulted like this, and the aggressors do not repent in front of the camera,” he wrote on X, previously Twitter.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
