Baltimore First Lady Hana Scott says she has “been silent way, way too long” about local media coverage of her, her family, and her work.
Recovering from a hysterectomy in July and soreness after dancing at a wedding Saturday, Scott sat outside and recorded a video that she posted to her Instagram page Sunday afternoon. In it, she spoke out against coverage by Fox45 and The Baltimore Sun.
“I have been trying to be like our forever first lady, Michelle Obama, and when they go low, I go high,” Scott said, “but I’m only 5’2”, so I can only go but so high. And it’s tough always being the bigger person. Sometimes you want to be the littler person.”
Enough is enough, Scott said.
“We’re about to get like Cardi B,” she said. “They want to go low. We can take it to Hades.”
The statement was a reference to the rapper Cardi B who, when asked by interviewer Gayle King about Michelle Obama’s famous quote on taking the high road, responded with her own version.
“When they go low, I take it to hell, where the lava is at. The volcano erupted. That’s where I take it. I don’t take it high, I take it low.”
“Where the lava is at?” King repeats in laughter.
“In hell. Hot. Yeah, Michelle, I get the positivity, but sometimes you’ve just got to take it to hell.”
Scott and her husband, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, have three children. Hana says she started receiving “attacks” in 2023 when she and Brandon announced they were expecting a child, their son Charm.
Over the past three years, Scott said she has been a “target for Sinclair Broadcasting, Fox 45, Baltimore Sun, all their cronies, all of their bots, all of their supporters in the Baltimore area and nationwide.”
Fox45, the local Sinclair Broadcasting-operated television station, and The Baltimore Sun, which is owned by Sinclair chairman David Smith, published an article last week as part of their “Spotlight on Maryland” series, headlined “Mayor Scott’s wife received $51K taxpayer dollars through youth fund.”
The article raised questions about a potential conflict of interest regarding money that the nonprofit Bmore Empowered had paid Hana. Bmore Empowered itself had received money from the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund, a taxpayer-funded initiative that supports the city’s youth.
In her Instagram video, Hana pushed back against the news organizations’ claims.
“The current lie is that I’ve taken $51,000 in taxpayers’ money through BCYF through another organization, which is a lie,” she said. “I was paid as a contractor through Bmore Empowered specifically, not through BCYF, not through any other entities.”
According to her LinkedIn profile, Hana worked as the director of operations for the nonprofit Bmore Empowered from September 2021 through September 2025, when the organization “temporarily paused” its operations.
The nonprofit, whose website described the organization as being “dedicated to empowering women and girls of color through mindfulness & entrepreneurship,” shut its doors permanently in February 2026.
Scott said the Sun and the Fox station “do not operate with journalistic integrity.” She called them “a glorified blog.”
“It’s all lies,” she said. “It’s all false. It’s libel at this point.”
The news stories have cost her job opportunities, Scott said.
“There are people that are not in the area who don’t know that the Baltimore Sun has been compromised, that these are not legitimate sources of of news and journalism,” she said. “I’ve been on calls losing opportunity, losing business, losing access to jobs because they say ‘I googled your name and I saw this story and it’s not a good look, so we’re not going to work with you. We’re not going to hire you.’ I’ve been asked to step down from boards because they have seen the stories and they are worried about Sinclair going after them.”
Scott said the media coverage has impacted her physically and emotionally, too.
“I have had to take Wellbutrin during pregnancies because of the stress and the depression that I’ve gone through because of these attacks,” she said. “I have lost weight because of the stress. I have been on anxiety medication because of how much it impacts my mental health.”
She said she has even received messages “calling me a thieving N word, asking me where the money is, asking me why I’m stealing,” and her family has been mailed death threats “regurgitating these talking points from Sinclair.”
This is so sad. I am praying🙏🏽 for you and your family. God is in charge and he will always have the last word.
FAITH- FEAR ASIDE IN TRUST HEALER
African Americans whether females or males has always been under fire 🔥 by white supremacy because we are a people of high excellency.
That would be, “We are a people of high excellence.” Excellency is an honorific title.
It is deeply troubling to watch race-baiting remain such a persistent feature of American public life, especially when African-Americans are judged not by their character, accomplishments, education, service, or professional pedigree, but by whether they conform to a particular political or cultural ideology.
What is especially disturbing is the way organizations such as SINclair are perceived by many critics as helping normalize narratives that cast Black Americans as suspect, threatening, or illegitimate whenever they challenge a hard-right political agenda. No person should have to prove their worthiness simply because they refuse to align themselves with a movement that wraps partisan politics in the language of nationalism or Christianity.
There is something profoundly cynical about invoking “Christian values” while engaging in rhetoric that appears to demean, stereotype, or marginalize entire groups of people. Christianity, at its best, teaches compassion, humility, dignity, and love of neighbor. It should never be used as a shield for racial resentment, political exclusion, or the suggestion that only certain Americans are entitled to full belonging.
African-Americans should not have to reach some extraordinary level of success before being afforded basic respect, nor should achievement protect someone only until they express the “wrong” political view. Whether a person is a laborer, a teacher, a business owner, a military veteran, a scholar, or a public official, their humanity and citizenship are not conditional.
The saddest part is that this kind of politics keeps Americans trapped in manufactured racial conflict instead of encouraging serious conversations about opportunity, justice, accountability, and the future of the country. We should be able to disagree fiercely about politics without resorting to racial provocation, religious hypocrisy, or attempts to delegitimize people because they will not fall in line with a particular ideological agenda.
Well said, Craig. Very well said.
Many of the comments regarding Ms. Scott assume that she is telling the truth and that “White power structures” are out to get her. Well, the truth is that Brandon Scott, who is hiding his spending of our money and Ms. Scott who has been shady about where she spent our money are being criticized by the Black, majority population of this majority Black city. Trying to misdirect us is plan A when trying to deflect. Where and what OUR money is spent on cannot ever be some state secret. The fact that Scott and company thinks it’s none of our business is disgusting and does not warrant support from any decent, honest person, not to mention those so-called christian people.
As a white man in Baltimore, I am ashamed of the lies being spread about Scott and his wife. Watch Fox News and you will not find anything positive about Baltimore. The same with the Baltimore Sun. Yes, there are issues that need to be addressed. That’s true for any American city. The last thing Baltimore needs is a lying media. We need to work together, not tear us apart.