Here is the letter the anchor received:
[YouTube] Jennifer Livingston, an anchor with WKBT in Wisconsin, received an email last Friday that scolded her for being a bad role model.
“Your condition hasn’t improved for many years,” the letter read. “Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular.”
The viewer said that “obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make” and he asked Livingston to “reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality and promote a healthy lifestyle”.
Look, haters are gonna hate. You can’t respond to haters, it shows weakness. I don’t think she needed to go public with her response. It shows courage, yes, but the person who wrote the letter is clearly a schmuck bag. No need to respond to the haters. I mean, if I responded to every TSP “hate” tweet or email, I’d be very busy. Although, in fairness to the fat lady anchor (just kidding…kind of) we haven’t gotten any hate tweets for being fat yet, so I don’t know how I would react to that.
I’ll continue to quote the brilliant artist, T.I., from a concert at the BJC in 2008 (or 2009 I forget): “If you ain’t got haters, you ain’t doing nothing right.” (I’m paraphrasing a bit, but you get the point.)
Haters gon’ hate.
Ps. Keep eating babe, you look great. Fat girls need loving too. We got your back.
Pps. To be completely honest though, I was kind of shocked to see such a fat news anchor. I mean, truthfully, it’s just awkward. It’s not something you see everyday.
This was the most “Unintelligent” comment made on television ever! First of all she apparently is ignorant to the Gabby Gifford situation. Her boss and she put herself and her family in harms way by doing this. If this man had been a stalker or owned and operated a gun and had an agenda here, she could be dead. How would her family and friends feel about this? For this reason it was a dumb move and her boss should have known better. WI. is known for not having the brightest people. But.. this takes the cake! Secondly… this man is protected as we all are by the Constitution under freedom of speech. Unless… he expressed in his letter threats, hate crime, or violent intentions, this man or anyone else are allowed to write and send insulting or offensive letters. This letter was private/personal. Meant to be between her and him. He did not publicly insult her. That would have possibly warranted a response back. She does owe it to he a good role model for her kids and other kids as well. We should as adults, especially being on television, be able to be responsible for what children see. She did not own it or want to own it. She wanted to make excuses and point the blame to him. One time when I was a young woman, I received a letter. Just like this anchor woman did. I was teaching a dance class. I was thin. I just could not dance. Did it upset me? Yes. But… I owned it. I was mature about it. I did not choose to read the letter out loud and call attention to myself. OR like this woman transfer the blame onto the person. Instead.. I realized they were right… I was not good at dancing or teaching dancing. I took the information and it made me stronger. It is what you do with the information. She was the bully in my opinion. He was trying in his own way to help. I get she was mad and upset. But.. at the same time, I also think that people need to own things and teach kids to own them. Because in life.. people will say or write things to you and your kids that are not good, positive or nice. Sometimes.. family and friends are afraid to be truthful. This person said what they feel and should not have to be made to take that back or regret this. Maybe he looked at it.. if he can help one person lose weight in our over weight nation.. all the better. Do you think a personal trainer would sit there and coddle someone in her condition and say… your just great the way you are? She would not last five minutes on the biggest loser with Jillian Michael ‘s. They call you slob sometimes.. to get threw and have a light go off to motivate the person. I doubt this man thought he was motivating her. I think… he wanted to do something to make a dent in the over weight population. WI. especially needs it. Lets just say for arguments this news anchor has a heart attack tomorrow. If I were her… I would be thanking this man for pushing me to be healthy again for my kids and yes to set a positive example for children whom look up to those they see on television. It is not okay to be over weight and fat. If we teach kids that being a bully is calling attention to this, we are sending mixed messages. This is just my opinion. I would rather take information that is factual and do something that might save my life so that I can be around longer for those who love me. This woman is at risk of diabetes if she does not have it already, high blood pressure which can lead to a stroke, cancer, bread cancer, and hip and joint problems. Not to mention heart disease and issues. These can all lead to death and her kids may not see her live a long life if she continues to walk her path. Making a difference with even one person in this world would make me happy and I am sure this man felt the same way . What is this world coming to, if he was ridiculed for suggesting someone lose weight. I am not sure.. the words he used. Maybe it was written too harshly and maybe he did not choose his words wisely. However… the message was there whether she chose to see it or not. Perhaps she just was not ready to hear the message. In my perception of a bully.. and I was bullied as a child. A bully is someone who threatens you, sometimes follows you and torments you. This happened to me. Repeatedly says things to you on the play ground. IF .. bullying in her terminology was trying to cause her to do something to save her life and be around to see her kids get married and her grandchildren… isn’t that a good thing? Shouldn’t it be a good thing? I come from a bold state.. NJ>. We are straight shooters. I also believe in freedom of speech and protecting those Constitutional rights we have. But… I also like when someone calls attention to something I can do to help me live longer and a more productive life. criticism that could save my life for me and my family is always welcome to me. Even if it is not worded correctly. But… that is just me, and I welcome that criticism because it also helps me grow as a person. I would have kept the letter to myself and did something about it when I was ready to.