A man has been identified by police and is facing charges of harassment after kissing a reporter during a live TV broadcast.
On Friday, Eric Goodman approached news reporter Sara Rivest while she was live-filming a segment covering the Bourbon & Beyond music festival in Kentucky and pretended to spank her before smiling and walking off camera.
A few seconds later, Goodman returned and attempted to kiss Rivest on the cheek without her permission, which Rivest can be seen ducking away from in a clip of the incident.
“Okay, that was not appropriate,” Rivest says before resuming her reporting.
The incident prompted a male anchor in the WAVE 3 studio to ask Rivest if she was “okay” and point her towards a nearby police officer, to which Rivest responded, laughing: “Yeah, I might need some help.”
Goodman was later identified by Louisville Metro Police and charged with harassment with physical contact, a misdemeanour. He must also appear in court on 6 November, according to Wave 3.
Goodman also apologised for his actions in a letter written to Rivest, which was shared by the news outlet.
In the letter, Goodman says he made the “terrible decision with the intent only to be funny, but was clearly inappropriate and rude”.
“I was wrong to interrupt your job, invade your personal space and leave you feeling powerless,” he continued, before concluding: “I sincerely apologise and deeply regret my actions where I allowed immaturity to humiliate you, myself and many others… I am so very sorry.”
While Rivest says she accepts the apology, she also agrees with the “decision to charge him”.
Prior to Goodman being identified, Rivest had shared the clip on Twitter, where she wrote: “Hey mister, here’s your three seconds of fame. How about you not touch me? Thanks!”
The clip prompted hundreds of people to offer their support for the anchor, and praise her for her handling of the situation.
“You showed grace in an awful situation,” one person wrote, while another said: “I’m so sorry this happened… you handled it with pure class.”
