A news anchor is calling out viewers for criticizing her weight. Taking to TikTok, news anchor Carissa Codel has begun directly addressing her haters.
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She reads the mean things they say about her online. Codel is a news anchor for CBS affiliate KOLR. Codel went viral after sharing all the hateful comments people say about her in a series of online videos.
“Honest opinion, touch up the bangs, lose 15 to 20 lbs. Go get ‘em,” Codel said her first video of what became a recurring series. “Now that fills a frame.”
Codel also said, “As you guys can see from this graphic here, pig emoji.”
“Built for breeding” was another hateful comment.
News Anchor Calls Out Haters
Codel’s “Reading Viewer Comments” has amassed more than 14 installments and millions of views. Speaking with People, the news anchor explained why she wanted to address her haters.
“I started making those videos. After I got a few comments on one of my reports. I personally thought they were hilarious. And showed how often women in this field are scrutinized for their appearance. I wanted my video reading the comments to stand out, so that’s where the newscaster voice came in,” she said.
The news anchor wanted to directly face her haters.
“I feel like we can all hear how silly troll comments sound when they’re read out loud,” Codel continued. “I never thought that they would go as viral as they have. But I’m so thankful for the support. I truly feel grateful for the little community that’s been built.”
Codel said that she started the series to increase her social media following. She said, “‘Okay, well. For my job, we have to be really, really big on social media, ‘cause that’s where news is going, right, it’s all going digital.’”
Meanwhile, her mother also weighed in on her daughter’s series.
“So fight mode was happening inside of me,” she said, “and I called her up, and she was like, ‘Oh no. This is great. This is great, because people just keep wanting to comment ‘cause they want to get mentioned.’ ”