You can call me a lot of things, but a slut is not one of them. I don’t answer to it and if you ask anyone who knows me they would laugh at the mere thought of me throwing my sexuality around like currency.
Since I know that about myself, I wasn’t offended by a recent derogatory tweet from @MrTommyLand who said, “Hey weather girl! Why you club dressin again? #slutfest just do the weather.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfEOA_-g1vz/?hl=en&taken-by=tommylee
To be honest, I did not see the tweet about his IG post until about 12 hours after it was posted on Sunday night thanks to a supportive follower who alerted me on my twitter feed saying, “Hey @libertechan Tommy Lee is dissing you”
My gut response was this: “It happens. Everyone has their opinion and a remote and they’re welcome to change the channel”
It had been a long Sunday, where I worked eight hours at KTLA, followed by hosting an acroyoga event at the Intercontinental hotel for my new clothing line, Sweat With Soul, which ironically is all about spreading positivity and empowering messages like Girl Power, Woman Warrior, and Unite. Needless to say, I was on a yoga high and super tired from my 15 hour day and went to sleep without thinking twice about the tweet.
I woke up the next day to a text from our KTLA 6am producer, Christina Fawaz, who wrote, “Sorry to bother you so early but can you check your work email. Sam [Ruben] wants to run that Tommy Lee story and I wanted to clear it with you first.”
My response: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
After a quick re-check of my twitter feed, I learned that the mean tweet was from former Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee. I shook my head and laughed out loud, thinking to myself, here we go again–my wardrobe has become a newsworthy topic (yes, I was the one involved in #sweatergate in 2016). I told Fawaz she was welcome to air the story since I answered honestly and could care less about what one viewer thought… especially because it wasn’t true.
However, as the tweet began to sink in, I realized I was doing exactly what so many women do…we take insults in stride, remaining silent, and passively allowing the disrespect and verbal abuse to continue as a societal norm. By the end of the day, I was offended and thought, wow, in this male-dominated landscape where women are finally feeling empowered and strong enough to speak up, it was time for ME to speak up.
So here is my response, Mr. Tommy Lee. While I appreciate your viewership and watching KTLA5 morning news, calling me a slut for what I was wearing–a dress that is less than revealing (um, did you see cleavage? Was the dress length inappropriate for work?) is unacceptable. I encourage you and any man who feels the need to call a women a slut to think twice about it. Posting something that’s hateful, insulting, and untrue is the sign of a weak character. Do you really need to try to make someone feel small to make yourself feel big?
Please note as well that I’m not a ‘weather girl’, I’m a meteorologist (with the degree and knowledge to back me up) and a journalist doing my job delivering the weather and reporting the news. As I said, if my dress offended you, you are more than welcome to change the channel and watch another station, but you are not permitted to call me or any other women a SLUT for our clothing choices.
Lastly, Tommy Lee, you are a celebrity (I was a fan of your music back in the day), but to use your star power to spread hate and offensive messages is disappointing and it goes against the emerging movement of change. We now live in a society where men are being plucked from their positions of power under allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct. To think it’s okay to Slut Shame is an archaic way of thinking. It’s time to evolve. The tide is changing and hopefully men like you will too.
