Fat News Anchor Whines About Being Called Fat, Is Celebrated

[Flagg]

TVGuide + Video

VIDEO: TV Anchor Responds to Bully Who Called Her Fat

A Wisconsin TV news anchor fought back against a bully on air Tuesday after receiving hurtful mail that called her fat.

Jennifer Livingston, an anchor for CBS affiliate WKBT in La Crosse, Wi., addressed her bully head on after receiving a letter — which her husband, WKBT anchor Mike Thompson, posted on his Facebook page — that scolded her for being an unacceptable role model on television for young girls because of her weight.

"Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain," a portion of the letter read. "I leave you this note hoping that you'll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle."

On air, Livingston responded with a four-minute comment. "The truth is, I am overweight," she said. "You can call me fat — and yes, even obese on a doctor's chart. But to the person who wrote me that letter, do you think I don't know that? That your cruel words are pointing out something that I don't see? You don't know me."

Coincidentally, October is national anti-bullying month, which is why Livingston wanted to address this on air. "Now I am a grown woman, and luckily for me I have a very thick skin, literally, as that email pointed out, and otherwise. That man's words mean nothing to me, but what really angers me about this is is there are children who don't know better, who get emails as critical as the one I received or in many cases, even worse, each and every day."

1) How is telling her to be a better role model in private correspondence "bullying"?
2) How is what this obese woman did not bullying? She used her on air priviledges to call this person out to shame them. That sounds an awful lot like bullying to me.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Did she call this person out by name?


If the anchor were trying to act like being outright obese is a perfectly healthy body type I could see calling her on it. Attacking her for her weight without provocation makes you a dick. Unless she's actually trying to make obesity look healthy there's no cause to write her a letter scolding her for not being fit and trim.

And to be entirely honest, I'm more concerned with diet and exercise than body type. Some people have to put more effort into weight loss than others. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum, where my body doesn't put on weight especially easy. She may well be on the side of the scale that can run on fewer calories for a given amount of exercise. If her vitals and cholesterol are all good and she exercises I don't see it mattering if she weighs more than is ideal.

Regardless, unless she's actively trying to present obesity as a healthy bodytype there's an issue. Simply being a news anchor that happens to carry around more weight than falls in a target range doesn't give you cause to write her a letter trying to shame her into living healthier.

[Phantasee]

Uh if even she says she's obese she is more than just outside a target range, she's unhealthy.

[Broomstick]

Having actually seen the speech she made on TV, no, she did not call this person out by name.

I didn't get the entire text of the e-mail sent to her, but the mood I got was this person was basically saying she shouldn't be seen on TV because she's fat. I'm sorry, but fat people exist and if she's competent and able to do her job then her weight problems are her personnel problem, not a topic for public debate.

As for how overweight she is: yeah, definitely overweight, borderline obese if not actually obese by BMI standards, but not incapacitated by it. She doesn't seem to have any problem moving around, getting up and down from chairs, etc. Al Roker pointed out this morning that before he got his weight problem under control (through some pretty drastic bariatric surgery) he was significantly heavier than this woman and yet people didn't tell him he was a bad example or to get off the air and suggested that sexism was at play at least in part. I suspect that is correct.

As for what the lady said - no, she was not "whining". There was nothing "whining" about her tone or what she said.

[Flagg]

She was whining. She went on the air to whine about a not mean letter saying she's a role model and should be a healthy one due to the fat epidemic in America. She should not be celebrated as someone who stood up to a bully, she should be called a bully because she is one.

[Broomstick]

Get over yourself - it's clear that the e-mailer is saying that until she's acceptably skinny she shouldn't be seen in public. I don't find fat attractive, but I don't insist fat people keep out of sight, either.

The only way she's "promoting" fat is by daring to be seen in public. Nothing she does in her job says being fat is wonderful or a good choice. Yeah, she's overweight - but most people know that losing weight is difficult for many.

[Flagg]

Get over yourself - it's clear that the e-mailer is saying that until she's acceptably skinny she shouldn't be seen in public. I don't find fat attractive, but I don't insist fat people keep out of sight, either.

No, he's saying that she should get her fatass into better shape so she's not a poor role model. I don't agree with him, but that's not bullying. But you know what bullies do? They get up in front of class and whine about how mean the victim is to them.

[Broomstick]

right, nothing mean at all about saying someone shouldn't be seen or shouldn't have their job because they're fat.

[Flagg]

Why shouldn't people on TV be role models?

[Flagg]

And more to the point, why is it ok to be fat now? It's a bad health decision people make. It's one I made and then corrected. It's not about vanity it's about health and the guy made that clear.

[weemadando]

Let's be fair here. If she's fat, then you can call her fat.

But if you're a cunt about it, then she gets to call you a cunt.

Turn about is fair play.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

No, he's saying that she should get her fatass into better shape so she's not a poor role model. I don't agree with him, but that's not bullying. But you know what bullies do? They get up in front of class and whine about how mean the victim is to them.

How is it bullying to say an anonymous person said something to you you find abusive? Is a person being a bully if they stand up in front of the class and say "someone did [x] to me" without any way for anyone in the classroom to know who that person is?

[Flagg]

The thing is, it wasn't particularly cuntish.

Hi Jennifer,

It's unusual that I see your morning show, but I did so for a very short time today. I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn't improved for many years. Surely you don't consider yourself a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain. I leave you this note hoping that you'll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle.

If he'd called her a fat bitch or something I could understand, but this is clearly just a fat bitch bully who doesn't like criticism, even if it's valid.

[Flagg]

No, he's saying that she should get her fatass into better shape so she's not a poor role model. I don't agree with him, but that's not bullying. But you know what bullies do? They get up in front of class and whine about how mean the victim is to them.

How is it bullying to say an anonymous person said something to you you find abusive? Is a person being a bully if they stand up in front of the class and say "someone did [x] to me" without any way for anyone in the classroom to know who that person is?

Because his identity wasn't kept a secret for long. It got out there. Gee I wonder how.

[Scrib]

And more to the point, why is it ok to be fat now? It's a bad health decision people make. It's one I made and then corrected. It's not about vanity it's about health and the guy made that clear.

It's a backlash against overzealous fat watchers- fat can mean anything from this chick to Kate Upton and so loses some credibility- and some people want to be humans without being slammed. Sorry.

[Flagg]

There's a difference between "being human" and letting kids think it's ok to be a walking cetacean.

[TheFeniX]

1) How is telling her to be a better role model in private correspondence "bullying"?

I don't know. How was someone passing me a note in 6th grade saying "I'm going to punch your crooked eye straight" (referencing a birth defect I have) bullying? It was in private. And if my eye looked "normal" then I likely would have avoided a lot of negative comments.

2) How is what this obese woman did not bullying? She used her on air priviledges to call this person out to shame them. That sounds an awful lot like bullying to me.

I recommend a job in the American education system. Administrators use this same line of reasoning to make "undesirables" out to be bullies when they dare fight back (in any capacity) against their betters.

Anyways, The wife watches local news before she leaves for work in the morning, so it's what's on when I turn the TV on after work. This was on.... I'll say the same thing I said then: "This is news?"

Why shouldn't people on TV be role models?

AAAhahahahaha! Oh wait, you're serious?

News anchors are there to report news and it's almost certain that (on a slow news day) her station thought it was a good idea to go through with it. This reminds me of MMA fans going batshit because Josh Koscheck (a UFC fighter) was being a douche (or a bigger one than usual). "Athletes should be role models." It's fucking stupid: Koscheck is paid to punch people in the face. Or the whole Tiger Woods fiasco "Can you believe he was having an affair?" Why yes... yes I can believe that because he's a golfer, not a paragon of virtue.

There hasn't been a good role-model on TV since Bill Nye went off the air. Besides, what kids watch local news?

[Terralthra]

1) How is telling her to be a better role model in private correspondence "bullying"?

I don't know. How was someone passing me a note in 6th grade saying "I'm going to punch your crooked eye straight" (referencing a birth defect I have) bullying? It was in private. And if my eye looked "normal" then I likely would have avoided a lot of negative comments.

So, a threat of violence is equivalent to "you're not setting a good example," and the congenital shape of your eye is equivalent to an unhealthy lifestyle choice. Did you think this analogy through?

[Broomstick]

And more to the point, why is it ok to be fat now? It's a bad health decision people make. It's one I made and then corrected.

Bravo for you.

How long did it take you to make the correction?

I have no idea if this woman is attempting to lose weight or not, or what she may be doing if she is trying to lose weight, and where she is in the process. As pointed out, Al Roker used to be much heavier than her and was for years and years as he attempted to lose weight. The only thing that worked for him was, essentially, extensive surgical re-routing of his digestive tract. Maybe you didn't have to go that far. Maybe some people weight 250 pounds today and look fat but hey, two years ago they weight 400 and so their current weight is actually progress to be applauded and not looked down on.

I don't know... and neither do you. And someone who admits they seldom if ever watch someone on a news show making kneejerk assumptions is also bullshit.

[RazorOutlaw]

The guy writing the letter also made the assumption that kids watch the news in the morning and that they might apparently be influenced by her size. Maybe her size is a problem, but it's hers to act on or not.

[Knife]

You don't change behavior with notes like this. Behavior modification is long, hard, and has nothing to do with bullies or do gooders giving their two cents.

[TheFeniX]

So, a threat of violence is equivalent to "you're not setting a good example," and the congenital shape of your eye is equivalent to an unhealthy lifestyle choice. Did you think this analogy through?

It is. It's a terrible analogy. What makes it an even worse analogy is that an overt threat of violence specifically targeted at something I had no control over was brushed off by my home-room teacher as "Sometimes, you have to just ignore things." My counselor and AP (with the AP insinuating I made up the whole thing) didn't give a shit either. I ended up keeping the note for a few years as some kind of life lesson I never really figured out.

That people don't even take threats of violence seriously makes it no surprise they don't take comments like "You're fat" seriously. After-all, fatties are terrible people for looking like that, so needle them about it. They deserve it. Aw man, they're saying something back? Fucking bullies man someone do something!

[Xisiqomelir]

The letter-writer is absurd to consider the local newslady some sort of hypnotic beacon who'll induce girls into being little chunkers just by showing up overweight on TV.

I also take issue with OP's slanted title. The woman in the video gave a rational, measured and decidedly non-hysterical response. It was in no way "whining".

[Terralthra]

So, a threat of violence is equivalent to "you're not setting a good example," and the congenital shape of your eye is equivalent to an unhealthy lifestyle choice. Did you think this analogy through?

It is. It's a terrible analogy. What makes it an even worse analogy is that an overt threat of violence specifically targeted at something I had no control over was brushed off by my home-room teacher as "Sometimes, you have to just ignore things." My counselor and AP (with the AP insinuating I made up the whole thing) didn't give a shit either. I ended up keeping the note for a few years as some kind of life lesson I never really figured out.

That people don't even take threats of violence seriously makes it no surprise they don't take comments like "You're fat" seriously. After-all, fatties are terrible people for looking like that, so needle them about it. They deserve it. Aw man, they're saying something back? Fucking bullies man someone do something!

I don't recall saying anything about how she is a bully. Perhaps you have me confused with Flagg?

At any rate, threats of violence, especially but not only about things which are congenital and unchangeable, are bullying; saying someone isn't being a good role model isn't. Or do you want to take issue with all the "bullies" telling Obama he should stop smoking, because he's not being a good role model?

[KlavoHunter]

If he'd called her a fat bitch or something I could understand, but this is clearly just a fat bitch bully who doesn't like criticism, even if it's valid.

Do we get to call women bitches around here?