Meshel Laurie hits back at online trolls
RADIO HOST Meshel Laurie was left gobsmacked by the blatant sexist attitude of two online trolls over the weekend.
THIS MORNING on Melbourne’s KIIS 101.1 radio station, host Meshel Laurie spoke about an experience she had over the weekend, where two men trolled her over social media because of her appearance.
Speaking to listeners and co-host Matt Tilley, Laurie said:
“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, for a lot of reasons, but specifically because ... this doesn’t happen to me a lot and also genuinely it did not hurt my feelings, I just thought it was a fascinating thing that happened.
“The first one said, ‘you just told us on The Project to fatten up for winter, look in the mirror and maybe hibernate fatso’.
“And then I swore back at him, I’m just in the mood where I just went, I said ‘Hi Daryle, that was actually the point of the joke you stupid, joyless, creep,’ I put another word in there.”
To Laurie’s amazement, this particular troll wrote back and apologised.
“Personally, I find this even weirder, but the dude has apologised. People be cray!” she wrote in a follow-up post on Facebook.
“Thanks so much for the support, but let’s leave good old Daryle to get on with his life in peace. Hopefully now he’ll think twice before casually contacting a woman with the sole purpose of trying to make her feel bad about herself.
“I won’t be shamed into silent self-hatred by a rando on my socials. Soz.”
But that wasn’t the end of it. Another Facebook user posted an attack on Laurie’s page.
“Please don’t think this happens a lot. It never happens actually, but for some reason I scored two in one night,” Laurie wrote.
Here is the second comment she received:
In response, Laurie said “It’s so bizarre isn’t it? The hate, the vitriol just like spewing out, what’s the worst thing I can think of to say to this woman I don’t know ... I have to out this kind of crazy sexism.
“That’s an extreme example but certainly I think we all get tempted for whatever reason to see people on TV or wherever and hate them. Don’t tell people you hate them on the internet, for so many reasons it’s crazy, it’s actually insane to do that.
“I don’t know what gives me the confidence to say whatever I want to say and do whatever I want to do, even though I know I don’t look like the kind of woman who’s normally allowed to speak in Australia, on TV and on radio, I don’t know why I’m confident enough to do that.”
Last month Laurie responded to observations about her appearance from a source closer to home: her young son Louis.
The conversation was spurred on after comments Biggest Loser trainer Michelle Bridges made on Australian Story, in particular the quote “I am yet to have met someone who is morbidly obese and happy”.
“It tapped into something that happened with my son Louis and I yesterday,” Laurie said to her radio co-host Tilley, following Bridges’ television appearance.
“He’s six, he’s in grade one ... He said to me, ‘Mummy, you’re fat.’ I said, ‘Yeah ... and that’s OK. I’m really happy. I’m a really happy person’,
“I meant it from the absolute pit of my soul.
“I’m such a lucky person. I’ve got two arms that work, two legs that work. A brain that’s sharp.
“My focus is always, I’ve actually got a perfect body. My body does everything you could ever ask for it to do. It had twins one time, it breathes properly. It is actually possible to be fat and happy, I promise you.”