When Jenni Hermoso seemed to find humor (in the heat of the moment) in Rubiales’ kiss.
This is a capture of the said video
The images were widely circulated by defenders of Luis Rubiales on Tuesday night. In a video presumably filmed from a phone belonging to a member of the staff or a player from the Spanish national team, who had just recently been crowned world champions on August 20th, Jenni Hermoso can be seen smiling.
Sometime after the president of the Spanish Federation stole a kiss from the player, Jenni Hermoso, perhaps not yet aware of the media uproar the sequence of the forced kiss would cause, appears on the team bus.
Holding a bottle of champagne to celebrate her world title with her teammates, Hermoso playfully shows a split-screen image on her phone.
«Like Iker and Sara», she can be heard saying as she reveals the photo of herself being kissed by Rubiales, alongside the famous kiss between Iker Casillas and his then-partner Sara Carbonero after the 2010 men’s World Cup final.
Rubiales cheered as he boards the players’ bus.
«Oh my god», Jenni Hermoso barely realizes, and then explains to her teammates, «Did you not see it? Excited (caught up in the emotion), he came and grabbed me like this», she mimics.
In the following part of the sequence, apparently a few minutes later, the Spanish players are seen making light of the situation and shouting, «Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! » before Luis Rubiales enters the team bus, to the cheers of the same players.
After the huge backlash caused by this stolen kiss, Jenni Hermoso had released a statement condemning Rubiales’ behavior.
The Spanish forward confirmed feeling violated by the president of her Federation. «I felt vulnerable and the victim of an impulsive, sexist, inappropriate act without any consent from my part», emphasized the Pachuca player in her public statement. «I simply wasn’t respected».
Steven K.
