News anchor bravely stands up to troll's body-shaming email with a befitting reply on-air

It has been an ongoing effort to ban the cruel idea of fat-shaming people. But even after many attempts to bring a change in people’s mindset and call for acceptance just the way people are, there are few condemners out there who still engage in the practice. Canadian news anchor Leslie Horton, who is no stranger to receiving such hurtful remarks, boldly took a stand to call out the email when she went live, reports TODAY. The anchor who received an email asking if she was pregnant moments before going live had a befitting reply for the troll. 

The email read, “Congratulations on your pregnancy. If you’re going to wear old bus driver pants, you can expect emails like this.” The 59-year-old anchor responded in front of the camera, “No, I’m not pregnant. I lost my uterus to cancer last year, and this is what women my age look like. So, if it’s offensive to you, that is unfortunate. Think about the emails you send.” Horton explained that the sender of the email had been attempting to humiliate her for quite some time.

“We’re not supposed to respond to trolls—so I had no plans to address it, but then the words just came out of my mouth. I had this visceral reaction,” the anchor told TODAY. She shared more about her battle with cancer and mentioned that the sender was a regular viewer who should have been aware of her history. “I had a radical hysterectomy, which means they don’t just take your uterus, they take everything—and it immediately impacts the shape of your body,” she added. The repeated emails were one of the reasons why Horton decided to take a stand and reply to the comment.

“Maybe I was responding to the pregnancy, no uterus, cancer thing. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m tired of female broadcasters—and women in general—being treated this way," she said. "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.’” Horton is confident that she will wear pants and whatever seems appropriate for her again and again and comments like the ones she received make no difference in her dressing decisions.

Horton had earlier also shared on her Instagram another email that fat-shamed her and ridiculed her style choices. The email read, “Who in the fashion world is advising Tiffany and Leslie on wardrobe choices? Did they each gain an additional 75 pounds over the weekend and think the outfit would serve as a disguise?” To this, Horton simply shared a completely unbothered sarcastic caption, saying, “Well, I did eat a couple of cookies on the weekend.” 

The anchor also revealed that the Global News Calgary anchors, especially women, receive “horrifying” emails of hate. Several commenters have responded to Horton’s confident reply and are applauding her for calling the man out. @sanitycheck2000 said, “Ah, yes. Grade 5. When we made fun of what others wear and lacked the judgment to know better.” @anderswin said, “You handled the low life like a champ.”