Watch | News anchor on live TV slams body shamer who asked if she’s pregnant, criticised her appearance
Canadian reporter
A Canadian news anchor recently gained attention online for her epic response to a body-shamer who asked if she was pregnant and criticised her appearance.
The 59-year-old, Leslie Horton, a traffic reporter with Canadian news outlet Global News was in the midst of giving her usual traffic report in late November when she paused to address an email from a viewer who criticisedher appearance on live television.
Horton slams online troll
“I’m just going to respond to an email that I just got saying: ‘Congratulations on your pregnancy,’” Horton said on-air. “If you’re gonna wear old bus driver pants then you have to expect emails like this,” the email also said as per the news anchor.
Responding to the email, she said, “So, thanks for that. Um, no, I’m not pregnant. I actually lost my uterus to cancer last year. And um, this is what women of my age look like.”
“So if it is offensive to you, that is unfortunate,” Horton added. “Think about the emails you send,” she concluded.
The clip of Horton’s response was posted by her network, on X and has since garnered 3.5 million views. The Canadian journalist is also being praised for publicly calling out the body-shaming remarks.
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“This is how you stand up to BS misogynistic comments,” said one user on X. While another user compared the comments to that of a child. “Ah yes. Grade 5. When we made fun of what others wear and lacked the judgement to know better.”
However, some others also the media outlet for calling Horton’s response “emotional”.
“Leslie, I'm glad you called this person out. To be clear, you, a powerful intelligent professional, look amazing. Now to Global, here is my "emotional" response to your assessment of Leslie's reply. If she were a man, would you call him "emotional"? You owe her an apology,” said one user.
‘I was hurt and angry’
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, on Wednesday (Dec 6) the Canadian journalist spoke about how she would typically “ignore” or “dismiss” any negative remarks but this particular one hit close to home.
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She also said “It is a man” who has been sending “nasty emails for about four years now…it’s been a pretty constant stream of emails…And when I got that email during our show, last Wednesday morning, I had a visceral response to it. And I was hurt, angry.”
“The aim of the email was to hurt and humiliate. And shame me,” she told GMA. In 2021, Horton was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and lost her uterus during the journey.
(With inputs from agencies)