Who is Samantha Rivera, reporter faces hate messages after viral Stanley Cup stiff-arm

A Miami sports reporter claimed on Monday that she had received a “influx of hate messages,” some of which appeared to be death threats, after she gained notoriety for ‘intimidating’ an overly enthusiastic fan while covering the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

Days after she fought with a fan who barged into her live shot as she reported on the Vegas Golden Knights’ Game 2 victory over the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Samantha Rivera of CBS Miami took to Twitter to address the recent uptick in criticism.

“I’ve been getting an influx of hate messages/comments these past couple days and to those people, I’d like to ask if maybe now is a good time for you to move out of your mom’s basement??” she wrote on Twitter. “Stay blessed.”

Rivera also reposted a tweet from a fellow journalist, who defended her, that read: “Just spent 15 minutes catching up with @JSamanthaRivera and to hear that she has been receiving death threats is straight criminal.”

“Take what you want out of context, but to [threaten] someone’s life over a tweet that came immediately after an emotional situation is ridiculous,” the tweet from Willie G. Ramirez read.

Rivera also added on her Instagram Story, “The block button is a beautiful thing too.”

Following the incident from last week, Rivera received praise online for pulling off the remarkable stiff-arm while keeping her eyes on the camera and holding the microphone in the other hand.

The unidentified spectator looked to be sporting a Golden Knights jersey.

However, Rivera handled it well and shared a video of the trending event on social media.

“Panthers lost another rough one tonight but let this serve as a reminder to back the hell off when I’m working and respect that I’m doing my job,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!!”