Social media, politicians react to FHRITP trend

WATCH ABOVE: A day after Hydro One announced they are firing an employee for defending an obscene phrase used to interrupt live TV reports, federal politicians are responding to the disturbing trend. Erika Tucker reports.

Within minutes of Hydro One confirming it was firing a man who defended the “F–k her right in the p—y” (FHRITP) phrase during an encounter with a television reporter in Toronto, people took to Twitter to debate; should he have been fired? Does the phrase constitute harassment? Or was it just a joke?

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was one of the first notable names to lend her support to City News reporter Shauna Hunt after she confronted the men who yelled FHRITP, planned to, or defended it.

READ MORE: Employees can be fired for ‘much less’ than defending FHRITP

People sent upwards of 10,000 tweets with the hashtag #FHRITP since Hunt confronted the men, with most approving of her and criticizing the men.

But it’s not just in Toronto and reporters have spoken out about the vulgar phrase before. Global News reporter Stefan Keyes experienced the FHRITP trend while outside of a bar in Calgary during the Calgary Flames’ playoff run.

“It’s vulgar, it’s disrespectful, particularly to women…there are children watching,” he said. “It’s a little selfish to get off on a prank like that when there are thousands of viewers that are trying to enjoy their news, and you’re taking away from that.”

WATCH: A TV reporter in Toronto is being hailed for her courage in standing up to some vulgar insults. It happened to City TV reporter Shauna Hunt so often, she decided to confront the men. As Jennifer Tryon reports, some are now paying a serious price.

Tory Gillis, a CBC reporter, wrote in a blog post that her and her colleagues are frequently subjected to the trend while working in Saskatchewan.

“The person who yelled it at me most recently, from outside a car window while breezing past a high school, was a girl of about 16,” she wrote. “I wasn’t broadcasting live and I remember feeling relieved that it wasn’t spread to all of our listeners and viewers. But it doesn’t matter if two people or 2 million are subjected to it. It’s equally invasive and disgusting.”

Shannon Martin, another reporter, called it “mortifying” during an interview on Metro Morning.

READ MORE: Hydro One employee fired after FHRITP yelled at reporter

The Kingston Police Twitter account also took on a Twitter user who chalked the FHRITP trend up to “boys will be boys.”

But some people disagreed with the majority and said the trend is not sexist. @Danstuckey wrote “#FHRITP isn’t about targeting reporters or genders (see video). It’s about disruption, the lens is the target.”

(Global News is not embedding the tweet due to the attached video which contains offensive language)

But all three federal political parties seemed to agree (for once) that the trend was unacceptable.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau congratulated Hunt for her “courageous shaming.”

NDP leader Tom Mulcair congratulated Hunt for standing up for herself and praised Hydro One for “applying and enforcing a Code of Conduct with someone who’s got a relatively senior job.”

WATCH ABOVE: One man has been fired from his job, the rest may be banned from all MLSE events for one year. Marianne Dimain reports.

Attorney General Peter Mackay called the trend offensive, threatening and derogatory.

“It’s not funny, and I don’t think any mother or any woman or any Canadian thinks that it’s funny to use that type of language. And I’m glad, and I think that the reporter in that case showed a lot of courage and a lot of integrity in exposing that type of behaviour,” he said.