Since the dawn of the Internet, people have used it to bully and shame others. After all, it’s easy to be cruel without consequences from behind the safety of your computer screen. Perhaps no one knows this better than female news personalities. Over the years I’ve read several accounts of female news anchors, reporters and meteorologists receiving scathing emails, tweets, and Facebook comments about their appearance. It’s truly sickening what they have to endure.
Typically the way to handle internet trolls is to ignore them. “Don’t feed the trolls,” is the mantra for dealing with them. After all, a reaction is probably what they want, right? However once in awhile, the trolls themselves need to be shamed. Sometimes an especially vile attack does deserve a response. Sometimes hitting back is what’s needed to truly empower a troll’s victim.
Internet Troll Targets Local News Anchor
This was exactly the situation recently with Canadian news anchor Leslie Horton, 59. Horton was going about her day at work late last month when she got a cruel, but not unfortunately, unusual, email from a viewer. It read: “Congratulations on your pregnancy. If you’re going to wear old bus driver pants, you can expect emails like this.”
Sadly, Horton was familiar with the sender. This was not his first communication to her about her appearance.
“He’s reached out several times over the years, and his intent is always to humiliate and hurt me,” Horton, a broadcaster for Global News Calgary, tells TODAY.com.
This time, the comment was so intentionally hurtful that Horton just couldn’t blow it off. “We’re not supposed to respond to trolls — so I had no plans to address it,” she says, “but then the words just came out of my mouth. I had this visceral reaction.”
At the start of her broadcast, Horton chose to speak up for herself and speak out against her troll and all people who make these attacks. She told viewers that she would be addressing an email she had just received. Then, she let loose.
“No, I’m not pregnant. I actually lost my uterus to cancer last year, and this is what women my age look like,” Horton, she boldly stated while looking straight into the TV camera. “So, if it’s offensive to you, that is unfortunate. Think about the emails you send.”
Global News Calgary traffic reporter @global_leslie responds to an email criticising her choice of clothes. #yyc pic.twitter.com/r9Od0hKbn0
— Global Calgary (@GlobalCalgary) December 5, 2023
She said she finally “drew the line” after this comment because she knows the sender is a regular viewer and it would be unlikely that he didn’t know about her recent cancer diagnosis and surgery.
“Maybe I was responding to the pregnancy, no uterus, cancer thing,” she told TODAY. “Or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m tired female broadcasters — and women in general — are being treated this way. And I would say it hit a nerve because I’ve received thousands of messages from people — men and women — saying, ‘Good for you. This is not right and it needs to stop.’”
Scores of people who saw Horton’s response posted by Global News on X also responded positively to her standing up for herself and women everywhere. Comments ranged from “She has more courage and resilience than any men on this planet” to “You’re a cancer warrior and a champion for women everywhere! Keep doing what you’re doing!” to even a call for Horton to run for Prime Minister of Canada.
As for her male co-workers, Horton says they are horrified on the behalf of their female colleagues who endure this type of body-shaming abuse. Unsurprisingly, she says that they do not receive critical emails about their appearance. And, she says, she’s not going to change her appearance based on the cruel comments of a viewer.
“I will continue wearing the pants, and I will continue going on TV because you telling me I’m old, ugly and fat doesn’t change the way I feel about myself,” Horton says.
Well said, Leslie Horton! Keep being the wonderful YOU that God created you to be!
