Ellie Abraham
Dec 07, 2023
This Morning, ITV
A news anchor who was body-shamed in a viewer email has been praised for her defiant on-air response.
Unfortunately, body shaming is an all-too-common occurrence, particularly for those within the public eye. Recently, it happened live on UK television and led to host Alison Hammond coming back with the perfect response.
Another person with a great comeback was Global News Calgary anchor Leslie Horton, who was just about to appear on air when she received a nasty email from a viewer on 29 November.
The 59-year-old had a strong reaction to the email, having recognised the male sender as someone who had previously trolled her with nasty messages, she told Today.com.
Horton took the opportunity of being live on the Canadian news service and ran with it, responding to the email live during her broadcast.
In her clap-back, Horton revealed the content of the message, saying the person had written: “Congratulations on your pregnancy. If you’re going to wear old bus driver pants, you have to expect emails like this.”
She continued: “So thanks for that, no I'm not pregnant. I actually lost my uterus to cancer last year. And this is what women of my age look like, so if it is offensive to you, that is unfortunate.
“Think about the emails that you send.”
A clip of the incident went viral and Horton has been widely praised for her “beautifully handled” impromptu response.
“A classy, brave response to blatant misogyny,” one fellow news reporter wrote.
Another said: “You go, @global_leslie - beautifully handled. So sorry you had to deal with this.”
Someone else said: “Oh my, this woman is my hero. What a brilliant response to a disgusting, repulsive email - the kind far too many women on TV are subjected to. Amazing. Simply amazing. Well done you.”
Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter
How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings
Top 100
The Conversation (0)