Naomi Osaka briefly paused a news conference and left the podium in tears after a question about her relationship with the media.
A Cincinnati reporter asked the 23-year-old tennis star “You’re not crazy about dealing with us, especially in this format. Yet you have a lot of outside interests that are served by having a media platform. How do you balance the two?”
Osaka said she was “not really sure how to balance the two. Like I’m figuring it out at the same time as you are”.
After the question, Osaka began to tear up and left the podium for a few minutes before returning to finish the news conference. Osaka’s agent later called the reporter a “bully”.
Osaka made headlines earlier this year when she withdrew from the French Open after announcing she would not be speaking with the press.
Was the reporter’s question out of line? Should athletes be forced to answer questions from the media?