Tracy Hinson

The meteorologist from St. Louis stood her ground after a body shamer told Hinson she “needs a girdle for her stomach overhang” and unkindlly suggested that she find a top “that covers the bulge in your stomach.”

Hinson politely, but firmly, told the woman that she’s happy with her body. 

“Dear Mary, yes I do watch my air checks. NO I will not be strapping myself into a girdle because you don’t like my belly,” she wrote on social media. “I like pasta, bread and cheese too much to obsess over my weight. I like my body and that’s all that really matters. ❤️ Tracy #nomorefatshaming” 

Janice Dean

The meteorologist, who has multiple sclerosis, shared a viewer’s note that stated Dean’s legs are “distracting,” as well as her own response on her Facebook page in January 2018.

“I’m sorry if you don’t like my legs. I’m grateful I have them to walk with,” Dean responded. “You’re right. I don’t look like the typical person on TV, and I’m proud to be a size 10. Imagine that! You can always turn the channel if you’re offended by my huge legs.”

She continued her thoughts in an editorial for FoxNews.com: “My big legs have always been a sore spot for me — but now more than ever I am proud of them. Because with MS, I could lose my ability to walk literally any day. So I’ve learned to be proud of my legs, and am grateful for them every day of my life.”

Mary Ours

After fellow newscaster Demetria Obilor spoke out about dealing with body shaming, Ours decided to share her own experience as a meteorologist at WJAC News in Western Pennsylvania. Ours uploaded a rude comment one reader left on the channel’s Facebook page, saying that Ours needed “fashion consulting.”

The meteorologist politely responded that her dress was “perfectly fine,” but that she would happily accept a new dress from the viewer, and would even send one their way as well. But the viewer continued to shame her, replying: “I would need to know what size it was, and then I’d send one a size bigger.”

Ours responded, “You’re body shaming a pregnant woman when we should be lifting each other up. I hope you have a better day.”

In her Facebook post about the exchange, Ours said that she experiences body shaming like this every day, and wants it to change. 

“I’m pregnant and I’m so excited! Yes, my body is going to be changing drastically and I will be growing so the negative comments about how I dress and look are unnecessary and will not be tolerated — it’s bullying!” she wrote. “We as women should be supporting each other not putting each other down.” 

Demetria Obilor

Just two weeks into her new job as the traffic reporter at WFAA Channel 8 News in Dallas, Obilor found herself the victim of body shaming from a viewer. The woman shared a photo of Obilor on Facebook (which has since been deleted) and said she looked “ridiculous,” while accusing her of being “a [size] 16/18 woman in a size 6 dress,” and refusing to watch the channel. 

Obilor says she wasn’t bothered by the comments, and has thick skin from years as a newscaster. In May, she shared a racist email about her hair that she got from a viewer at her old network. But she emphasized that the woman’s comments were offensive. 

“I’m not a 16/18, but even if I was, for you to try to call out my size like that to hurt me or discriminate against me, I’m not for that,” Obilor told NBC News. 

Celebrities like Chance the Rapper and Meghan McCain tweeted in support of Obilor, who says that the culture around newscasters needs to change. 

“It’s not about my unhurt feelings,” she said. “It’s about what’s acceptable in society and how we, as people in the media, we have to make things right.”

Kelsey McEwan

The meteorologist at Canada’s Your Morning gave an impassioned speech after a viewer tweeted that her maternity wear was “disgusting.”

“I’m a firm believer that my body — and your body — is nobody’s business but their own,” McEwan said during the morning broadcast on Aug. 16. “Your body is not for anyone else to talk about, whether they’re talking about your pregnant shape, they’re talking about your athleticism, or your hair color, or your skin color; it is not anyone’s business but your own.”

The soon-to-be mom-of-two felt that the viewer’s comment was particularly out of place in light of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville four days prior. 

“You know what is disgusting? Not my wear but racism, and hate and bullying,” McEwan said. “So let’s stand up to that. Let’s not just share the love, but let’s stand up to it and say enough is enough, we’re better than this, and we are so much more than how we look.”

Laura Warren

Going through her voicemails one day, Warren had a message from a woman who called her “disgusting” for wearing clothes that showed off her baby bump at 20 weeks pregnant.

The newscaster from Augusta, Georgia’s WRWD wrote on her blog that she was frustrated with herself for feeling offended by the woman’s comments. 

“I consider myself a confident, pretty secure, independent, woman. Why was I letting this one ridiculous, negative comment ruin my whole day?” Warren wrote. “I’ve gotten dozens of compliments from viewers saying nice things about my pregnancy, why was this the one that stuck?”

Warren — who is cautiously optimistic about her pregnancy after having a miscarriage at 18 weeks in October — says she wants to be stronger going forward. 

“​I think instead of letting this lady get me down, I’m just going to turn her negative energy into positive energy. I’m going to say as many nice things as I can to as many people as I can, and I’m going to do it in a dress that fits these beautiful new curves with my ‘watermelon’ stomach showing.” 

Carrie Duncan

The meterologist at South Mississippi’s WLOX hit back after a viewer sent her a body shaming email. Duncan, who gave birth to a baby boy in December, posted the email on Facebook, in which a viewer called her “disgusting” and said that she “will not live to see your children grow if you do not get rid of that horrid gut and huge arms.”

Duncan admitted that she doesn’t feel great about her body at the moment, but said there’s no justification for sending such a hurtful message. 

“I am sharing this email I received to show you what some people have to go through,” she posted. “It could be the thinnest person, and they’re too skinny. There are some people who are seriously unhappy. Ugly people always have something ugly to say. Please think about the people you are saying these things about and to.”

Lauren Jones

Jones’ fellow newscasters at Louisville, Kentucky’s Wave 3 had a tongue-in-cheek celebration after she finally made it through a full week without getting body shamed.

“We are celebrating today because Lauren has gone one week without someone saying something mean to her about baby weight gain. That’s a new record,” her colleague, John Boel, posted on Facebook. “Big day is only 9 weeks away!”

Unfortunately, the party came to a swift end after Jones shared the post on her own Facebook page, and the comments filled up with offensive remarks about her 7-months-pregnant belly. 

Marcella Raymond

The broadcaster at Chicago’s WGN has logged an impressive 18 years with the network, but that didn’t stop one viewer from sending an anonymous letter telling her to lose weight. 

Raymond replied that at age 50, she just can’t look like she did at 23 — and she has no interest in trying anyway. 

“Our main job is not to wear a swimsuit or to look like a beauty queen. Our main job is to deliver the news in the best way we can,” Raymond said. “It’s not about being the prettiest girl on TV.”

Her tenacity earned her a famous fan in Maria Shriver, who tweeted out the story in support. 

Deborah Knight

Knight almost made it through her pregnancy unscathed — until two days before she started maternity leave, when she received an unpleasant email from a viewer. 

“Charming viewer email: ‘Deb great BUT don’t need to look at pregnant body. If you must have her on keep her sitting down,” Knight tweeted. “‘It looks repulsive.’ ”

The meterologist on Australia’s morning news show Today was surprised there are still people with such outdated views. 

“The language used by the viewer was quite strong – she called me ‘repulsive’ – but I get it that there are certain people of a certain generation who might think that pregnant women should perhaps not be in the workforce, because back in the 1950s pregnant women were forced to quit their jobs,” she said. “I was just disappointed that someone would express that view in 2016.”

Sarah Harris

Harris had a strong message for the body shamers who called her “fat” and “ugly.”

“On behalf of all of the pregnant women out there who might be feeling a little bit chubby and a little bit flabby. On behalf of all of them, I want to say to the haters, get stuffed,” the Studio 10 co-host said on the Australian morning show.

Harris was 7 months pregnant at the time, and said she was already feeling vunerable when the viewers attacked her online. But she refused to let it bring her down. 

“I’m kind of fed up with the body-shaming that happens when you’re pregnant,” Harris said. “And then the pressure that comes afterwards to lose the baby weight. I’m proud of my body and what it’s doing.”

Katie Fehlinger

Viewers rallied in support after a few people attacked Fehlinger, saying the CBS 3 Philly meterologist looked like a “sausage in casing” and telling her that “sticking your pregnant abdomen out like that is disgusting.”

Fehlinger, who was almost 35 weeks pregnant with twin girls at the time, spoke out on Facebook. 

“Even during the most uncomfortable – and let’s face it, less than glamorous – symptoms of pregnancy, what women go through to bring their precious children into the world is, simply put, AMAZING and you should be lauded,” she wrote.

Her viewers rallied in support, with many sharing their own pregnancy photos.

“I can’t say it enough,” she told her station. “I’m so grateful for all this support. It gets to the point where you have to say something!”

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