This pregnant news anchor was not having it when a viewer called her “disgusting”
By now, it is a well-established fact that there’s no need to negatively comment on someone else’s physical appearance — ever. And this is even truer when that someone else is pregnant. Yet a pregnant news anchor was criticized by a viewer for the clothes she has been wearing on camera. And though the viewer’s comments aren’t even worth acknowledging, the reporter’s response certainly is.
Laura Warren is an evening anchor and investigative reporter for News 12 and NBC 26 in Augusta, Georgia. She also happens to be pregnant. And as she outlined in a July 4th post on her blog, “Bump, Baby, and Breaking News,” one viewer left her a voicemail berating her for her choice of maternity clothes. It’s almost too ridiculous to believe, but Warren recorded the viewer’s voicemail, and the woman can be heard saying:
"Please go to Target and buy some decent maternity clothes so you don't walk around looking like you got a watermelon strapped under your too-tight outfits. Target's got a great line of maternity clothes in case you've never heard of such a thing. You're getting to where you're being disgusting on the TV."
While we have nothing against Target, it’s very much up to any person — whether she is a news anchor or not — what she wears during this time of her life. And not that it should really matter, but her Instagram shows that Warren has looked nothing but professional during her pregnancy.
But the reason this is news is because of how Warren has handled these cruel comments.
She started her blog by saying, “Being pregnant is already one of the most emotional, insecure times of your life.” And while she’d like to spend most days watching Gossip Girl while wearing her maternity yoga pants and no makeup, her work requires her to “cake on enough hair and makeup products twice a day to moonlight as a Las Vegas showgirl.”
She goes on to say,
"So, the thick-skinned journalist in me who knows better than to give comments like this a second thought says, delete the voicemail and move on. Unfortunately, I'm pregnant, hormonal, currently not allowed to drink wine, and feeling extra in touch with my feminist side."
Warren did the unhealthy — but totally relatable — thing of going through every outfit the caller could have possibly been referencing, but eventually ended up on this thought: “I consider myself a confident, pretty secure, independent, woman. Why was I letting this one ridiculous, negative comment ruin my whole day? I’ve gotten dozens of compliments from viewers saying nice things about my pregnancy, why was this the one that stuck?”
Of course, that’s often how people respond to criticism, but Warren decided to counteract it in a positive way. She wrote,
"So, 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."
While we hate that Warren had to go through this, we love that she’s rising above these negative comments and still embracing her beautiful growing baby bump. Because even though she has a job that requires her to be on TV, how she feels matters much more than anything a viewer has to say.
