NEWSFLASH: Being a jerk is always a bad idea, but it is an especially bad idea when a) you have no idea what you’re talking about, and b) you choose to target someone who has the ability to completely break down your crap on her very own live show.
Jennifer Livingston, a morning anchor with WKBT-TV in La Crosse, Wis., is used to getting feedback from viewers. But when a male viewer wrote her a letter chiding her for being overweight, the mother of three took action.
In an on-air editorial address Tuesday morning that lasted more than four minutes, Livingston acknowledged being overweight – even obese – then added, “To the person who wrote me that letter, do you think I don’t know that?”
She followed up by thanking her colleagues, family friends and the others who have come to her defense.
“I will never be able to thank you enough for your words of support and for taking a stand against this bully,” she said. “We are better than this email. We are better than the bullies that will try to take us down.”
Livingston’s bold statement in her own defense made headlines around the world and today she told “Good Morning America” why she decided to speak out.
“This was a personal attack,” Livingston said. “Calling me obese is one thing. Calling me a bad role model for our community that I’ve worked at for 15 years and especially for young girls when I have three girls was a low blow and I thought it was uncalled for and I wanted to call him out on it.”
Watch the newscaster layeth the smacketh down live and in living color below:
Props: ABC News