A TikTok user has accused ESPN of ‘sexualizing’ her and her friend on TV after the pair went viral at the 2024 Men's College World Series championships.
On Monday night (June 24), the Tennessee Volunteers triumphed over the Texas A&M Aggies 6-5 in Game 3, allowing them to claim their first national title at the MCWS championships.
Baseball fans Annie and her friend were in attendance for the game at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, and were enjoying a couple of ice creams as they watched on.
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While eating the sweet treats, ESPN cameras panned in on the women and commentator Karl Ravech noted: "You gotta get it before it melts and it’s liquid."
Another added: “A night like tonight you’re working fast.”
Following the moment, the clip of the pair eating their ice cream cones has gone viral and Annie has taken to social media to slam the sports company for making it happen.
“20 seconds dedicated with commentary to us eating our ice cream, we all knew what direction that video was going to head in,” she said in a five-minute TikTok video.
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“And lo and behold the creeps of TikTok got a hold of it because we woke up the next morning getting compared to the ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl - no shade to her, girl, do whatever.”
She explained that she and her friend had elected to purchase ice creams in an attempt to beat the heat.
However, they were forced to eat them fast as they were melting ‘comically fast’.
Annie claimed she’d initially received texts from friends claiming to have seen them on TV and that they’d learned of her growing social media notoriety.
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“What’s funnier than a woman eating an ice cream cone or eating a hot dog or something that can be overly sexualized,” she complained.
“But ESPN can keep it vague enough and the ambiguity is what protects them — when they just open the door for f***ing creeps to come in and do whatever they want with it.”
The content creator further claimed that she’d read a myriad of ‘absolutely repulsing’ comments from people who had seen the clip before alleging that women ‘are not welcome in the sports world’.
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Referring to the backlash that Taylor Swift received upon attending a handful of NFL games last season, Annie said: “I don’t have the relevance of Taylor Swift.
“But what has been proved time and time again is that women just can’t exist in these spaces without something being commented on or being drawn attention to.
“We just wanted to enjoy a baseball game and it was 100 degrees and so god forbid we eat some ice cream.”
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Further on in the video, Annie asked the cable sports channel - co-owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications - to ‘stop making sports a place where women don’t feel safe and welcome’.
“We can’t eat in peace, we can’t wear clothes in peace, we literally can’t do anything without it being sexualized and absolutely turned into something way out of context.”
She added that she and her friend had been there the whole time and questioned why the cameras didn’t pan in on them earlier.
After posting her complaint video to TikTok, which has since amassed 5.7 million views, viewers have come out in their droves to have their say.
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One user said: “I’m so sorry this happened to you. My friend and I were eating hotdogs and were put on the Jumbotron for an uncomfortable amount of time.”
“My husband and I saw this and both thought it was terrible immediately,” claimed another. “Like why can’t they just let you eat an ice cream in peace.”
A third typed: “Good for you for standing up for yourself. I hope this inspires many others to stand up for themselves and others who are in similar situations.”
ESPN declined UNILAD's request for comment.
Ella Scott