A shocking workplace incident has sparked widespread support online after a vice president bravely spoke up about inappropriate comments made about her during a business video call. Whitney Sharpe, 28, who works for a recruiting and staffing company in Boston, found herself facing a deeply uncomfortable situation when male colleagues accidentally displayed their group chat, revealing inappropriate remarks about her appearance.
“When a vendor accidentally shares his group Teams chat, it’s all nasty things about me. It’s 2023, can this stop,” Sharpe captioned her TikTok video, which quickly went viral, gaining over 2 million views.
Sharpe shared further details of the incident with TODAY, explaining that it occurred during a video meeting on January 24, 2024, with three male employees from a potential client company. Her role involves assessing vendors to strengthen business teams. Sharpe chose not to disclose the company involved. The meeting participants had been informed the call was being recorded.
“I was on a call about to do a demo, and that software vendor accidentally shared their group chat with me instead of sharing the demo that they were supposed to share,” Sharpe explained. “The group chat said some pretty unkind things about me and it just kind of went on from there.” She mentioned only one specific comment from the chat, referring to her as an "effing bombshell," and declined to reveal further details.
“They realized (what happened), I would say, maybe 30 seconds to a minute into the conversation,” she added. “Certainly enough time for me to be able to see it go back and forth.” Sharpe acknowledged feeling nervous as she calmly addressed the situation, emphasizing the importance of controlling her emotions to avoid being labeled as "too emotional."
“My mind was going, ‘Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, just get the words out,’” she recalled. “I just was focusing on breathing in, getting the words out clearly and calmly. I think as a woman in the workplace, we’re often labeled emotional. I really didn’t want them to be able to say that I was emotional in my response. I definitely could have gone a lot harder on them. But if I did that, they would have been able to say that I was ‘too emotional’ and I was going to play into that, and I didn’t want that to be an excuse.”
After giving herself 15 minutes to process, Sharpe confronted the men directly on the call: “Okay, well, first of all, if we’re going to continue working together, I want to work with a woman sales representative because I don’t want to have to see locker room talk about myself when you’re sharing screens,” she asserted.
In response, one of the men described the behavior as “inexcusable” and apologized during the call. Sharpe later shared an apology letter sent by the company's VP, and noted that the CEO reached out formally after 24 hours with an apology, although she felt it lacked sincerity. “I felt that was a big issue and the CEO was on the line with an attorney and his head of HR,” Sharpe explained, saying the apology “didn’t feel genuine whatsoever.” She has yet to receive personal apologies from the three men involved.
TikTok | @whitneyrose617
Tiktok | @whitneyrose617
Sharpe now hopes to collaborate with advocacy groups like RAINN and the EEOC to better understand and educate others about workplace harassment. “I’m really hoping to partner with some of these organizations like RAINN,” she noted, emphasizing, “I really am hoping to speak with someone from RAINN and then the EEOC, which protects employees in the United States, so I can continue educating myself and then use my platform to make sure I’m saying the right things I don’t want to ever be giving the wrong advice.”
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The one phrase people most want to ban forever—and 20 more that drive us all nuts
If you’ve ever cringed at hearing “It is what it is” or rolled your eyes at someone saying “No offense…” before delivering something totally offensive, you’re definitely not alone. Some expressions are so irritating, so overused, or so grammatically cursed that hearing them once more might just push us over the edge.
We asked our Facebook audience, “ If you could ban one annoying phrase from existence forever, what would it be?” and holy moly, did the floodgates open. Typically, a given question might rack up around 5,000 comments—but this one? Over 14,000. People shared responses that were funny, petty, brutally honest, and occasionally downright poignant. From phrases that try (and fail) to sound wise, to those so overused they've lost all meaning entirely—here are the top contenders folks are completely done with.
The one phrase nearly everyone wants to vanish
By far the most repeated offender was:
Over and over, users cited this as the ultimate non-response. It’s dismissive, it ends conversations, and it offers exactly zero comfort or help.
Another big category? Expressions meant to comfort that end up being painful or insulting. These include:
Many commenters explained that these phrases, while often well-intentioned, feel dismissive in times of grief or hardship.
Grammar gripes and word crimes
Grammar lovers had a lot of feelings. Some of the most-cited “please stop saying this” phrases included:
And let’s not forget the collective rage over “pacifically” when people mean “specifically.”
Words that reveal more than they intend
Several users took issue with phrases that feel passive-aggressive or intellectually lazy, such as:
As user Jacqueline C. put it, “'To be honest...' What does that mean? That you're not honest any other time?”
Phrases tied to racism, sexism, or toxic positivity
A significant number of respondents took aim at harmful or politically charged phrases. Among them:
These comments weren’t just about annoyance—they were about the emotional weight and social impact of language.
James G. didn’t mince words when he wrote: “‘Go back to your country, then’ 🤬. The epitome of racist. I love my country, plus my ancestors did not ASK to be brought here the way they were.”
Corporate speak and empty buzzwords
You knew these were coming.
These phrases sparked a different kind of rage—one reserved for staff meetings and marketing emails.
Iris H. summed it up: “Most corporate speak. Downsizing. Low hanging fruit. Pivot. etc…..” Just say what you mean, please.
Why this resonated so deeply
There’s something unifying about shared irritation. These phrases might seem harmless or routine, but for many people, they’re like verbal paper cuts—tiny annoyances that, over time, sting a lot more than they should.
Whether it’s poor grammar, dismissive condolences, or flat-out hate speech in disguise, we’re collectively craving language that’s thoughtful, clear, and kind.
So the next time you find yourself reaching for one of these expressions, take a beat. Maybe there’s a better way to say what you mean. Or maybe… just don’t say anything at all.
And if you’ve got your own phrase that should be banished from existence? Don’t worry—there’s still time to add to the list.
Got another phrase that needs to go? Drop it in the comments on our original Facebook post.
Bonus: The top five most hated phrases from our poll
Let’s make 2025 the year we finally stop saying all of them.