A Viewer Sent an Email Body Shaming a TV Reporter. She Responded to the Commets About Her Weight Live On-Air.
"I'm going to respond to an email I just got saying, 'Congratulations on your pregnancy! If you're going to wear old bus driver pants, you have to expect emails like this,'' said TV reporter Leslie Norton.
A Canadian TV reporter is being applauded for her response after being body shamed by a viewer.
Leslie Norton, 59, is a traffic reporter for Global News Calgary in Canada.
After receiving a hurtful email from one viewer that criticized her physical appearance, Norton decided to respond in the middle of a live broadcast.
"I'm going to respond to an email I just got saying, 'Congratulations on your pregnancy! If you're going to wear old bus driver pants, you have to expect emails like this,'' said Norton. "So, thanks for that. No, I'm not pregnant. I actually lost my uterus to cancer last year."
She then added: "This is what women of my age look like, so if it is offensive to you, that is unfortunate."
Norton, who took time off last year while undergoing treatment for endometrial cancer, is now taking about that response and revealing that her decision to speak out on-air was totally impromptu.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Norton said that she felt a need to take control of the situation after reading that viewer's comments.
"The email was meant to intimidate, humiliate, shame me and make me feel bad about my body," said Norton. "I have a gut. I have wrinkles. I've got gray hair."
She also noted that the comments made by this viewer were difficult to hear given her cancer battle.
"This particular email mockingly congratulating me on my pregnancy came two years after I lost my uterus to cancer," said Norton. "I just felt like it cross the line."
That one hateful email has now lead to many celebrating Norton online, including recent Oscar winner Jame Lee Curtis.
The actress posted Norton's on-air video to her Instagram account, and soon many of her A-list pals started showing their support in the comment section.
"Bravo," wrote Michelle Pfeiffer.
"The most classy response to a classless email," said another supporter. goes another supporter.
Norton says her usual policy is to not address trolls - but she says she just could not help herself this time.