This is the moment a stunned tattoo artist watches in horror as a pizza chef allegedly masturbates after joining her morning TikTok live stream from his workplace.
The incident happened in Fortaleza, the capital of Ceara state in north-eastern Brazil, on 15th July, during an early morning live stream that content creator and tattoo artist Tais Thorpe, from Rio de Janeiro, had started at around 7am to chat with followers.
The footage shows the uniformed pizza chef joining the public broadcast from what appeared to be inside the pizzeria where he worked.
As Tais continues speaking to viewers, the worker appears to touch his genitals and make obscene gestures in front of the camera.
Tais, who has more than 120k Instagram followers, later alleged that the employee also sent her unsolicited sexually explicit images and messages through TikTok's direct messaging feature during the live stream.
She described the incident as "one of the most disgusting experiences" she had suffered while broadcasting online.
Tais said the shock left her physically shaking.
She said: "My body started shaking, my hands were shaking, I couldn't even click to report the user or block him."
The influencer said no woman should face that kind of behaviour simply for appearing online.
She said: "When a woman starts a live stream, she is not inviting this kind of behaviour."
Tais said she identified where the employee worked because he appeared in the company's uniform and his social media profile displayed a Ceara phone number.
She contacted Fortaleza-based pizzeria Via Pizza and also filed a police complaint in Rio de Janeiro under Brazil's criminal offence of sexual importunity, which carries prison sentences under Brazilian law.
She said: "This is not just internet bad behaviour. In Brazil, this is sexual importunity. It is a felony, and I will treat it as one."
After speaking publicly about the incident, Tais said she was subjected to a wave of online abuse, with trolls blaming her clothing, appearance and decision to host a live stream rather than condemning the alleged perpetrator.
She said: "I was wearing a completely standard shirt. But even if I were wearing a bikini, no one has the right to enter my workspace or personal space and do that. A woman's presence online is not an invitation."
Tais explained that she went public after realising how many women are unaware that digital abuse is illegal.
She said: "They think that sexual harassment only happens in person. And, given these accounts, I felt obligated to make this public to show that digital harassment also needs to be criminalised."
Via Pizza said it unequivocally condemned the alleged conduct and had immediately referred the case to its administrative and legal departments.
Company lawyer Ricardo Cavalcante said the uniformed employee used his personal mobile phone to access Tais' public live stream before allegedly making obscene gestures.
He said: "We watched the video and it really is very painful to see."
The company said: "We clarify that our company does not tolerate, support, or condone any acts of disrespect, discrimination, or misogyny."
It added that the business was founded and is entirely managed by a woman and a mother, saying it stood "completely in solidarity" with Tais and deeply shared her pain over the incident.
The pizzeria also said the footage showed the incident took place inside its premises using the employee's personal mobile phone during working hours.
It said Brazilian labour laws prevented it from disclosing details of the employee's status, but confirmed that the strictest internal disciplinary measures permitted had already been carried out.
However, Tais said that when she first contacted Via Pizza privately to report the employee, the company did not act quickly and made her repeat the traumatic account multiple times.
She said: "I felt that based on the company's statement, there was a gap between what I said and what the company said. They said they acted promptly and with solidarity, but that's not what happened."
The employee's legal representative had not been identified at the time of reporting.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
