Following the presser, the agent for the tennis star slammed the reporter for being a bully.
Naomi Osaka became quite emotional during her first press conference since she exited the French Open to focus on her mental health.
Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg tweeted on Monday that Osaka began to cry after a media member asked the tennis superstar “a fairly aggressively toned question about how she benefits from a high-media profile but doesn’t like talking to media.”
Because of Charles Barkley’s Mouth, He & Michael Jordan Are Friends No Longer
In the clip below, Osaka is seen wiping away tears with her jacket sleeve and pulling her hat down over her face. She steps away from the podium momentarily before returning to finish off the press conference.
Rothenberg added, “the aggressive tone from an unfamiliar person, after Naomi had already spoken in an earlier answer about how that’s what she finds difficult in press conferences, got things going completely awry.”
Following Osaka’s Q&A, her agent Stuart Duguid slammed the reporter for being a bully.
“The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player / media relations are so fraught right now,” said Duguid in a statement. “Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behavior.”
Duguid added, “And this insinuation that Naomi owes her off-court success to the media is a myth – don’t be so self-indulgent.”
Osaka previously said she did not want to do media sessions during the French Open due to mental health issues, and later revealed she’s battled “long bouts of depression” the past few years.
Source: Naomi Osaka tears up during 1st press conference since mental health break
