TV traffic reporter Leslie Horton has developed a thick skin over the years because of nasty feedback from viewers, but she unleashed a viral smackdown last week after she says one of them “crossed my line.”
The usually unflappable host, who has been at Global Calgary since 1995, was about to give a live report on the morning show when she decided to read out a message she received during a break.
“I’m just gonna respond to an email that I just got saying, 'Congratulations on your pregnancy. If you’re gonna wear old bus-driver pants, you have to expect emails like this,”’ Horton said.
“So thanks for that,” she responded. "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.”
I remember this exact same thing happened to another newscaster a few years ago. I remember her doing an on-air response to it which went viral, but I don’t remember the details.
EDIT: Holy shit, this 2016 article details FIVE TIMES when it had already happened then- https://people.com/health/five-newscasters-who-spoke-out-about-being-body-shamed/
Yeah. It’s just as annoying now as it was back then, and in the aughts, the 90’s, the 80’s, the 70’s and on and on ad infinitum.
Definitely. I shouldn’t be surprised that women in the news business have been regularly body shamed. I guess seeing this item come up when I’d seen the exact same story come up not that long ago jarred me. It was an unfortunate case of deja vu for a reason.