‘It takes a lot to make me cry’: Loose Women’s Charlene White reveals she was brought to tears after receiving ‘horrific abuse’ from trolls who tried to get her sacked from ITV
Charlene White has revealed she has been left in tears over ‘horrific abuse’ from online trolls.
The Loose Women presenter, 40, told how she has been targeted by vicious social media users in the past, including some who started a petition to try and get her fired from ITV which they called the ‘Sack the S**g campaign’.
Speaking to Love Sunday magazine, Charlene said she believes a lot of trolls think she is ‘fair game’ because she is a ‘black woman in the public eye’.
Cruel: Charlene White has revealed she has been left in tears over ‘horrific abuse’ from online trolls
She said: ‘I do get some horrific abuse. But it’s the weird dynamic that because it happens so often, I’m very used to it – which I shouldn’t have to be. I’m a black woman in the public eye, so for a lot of people I’m fair game.
‘It all came to a head when a member of the EDL [English Defence League] said, “I’ve heard there’s a black girl on ITV that doesn’t wear a poppy” and told his followers to abuse me in any way they could find me.
Charlene said she received several thousand comments along with the petition to try and get her sacked from ITV, describing the abuse as ‘overwhelming’.
She said: ‘As long as it doesn’t get as bad as that, it’s manageable. But that upset me a lot. It takes a lot to make me cry, but it got to a point where it was really overwhelming and really did make me cry. It’s never been to that particular level since.’
Awful: The Loose Women presenter, 40, told how she has been targeted by vicious social media users in the past, including some who started a petition to try and get her fired from ITV
Charlene added she gets online abuse anytime she speaks publicly about race, which she thinks is down to a lack of education.
The broadcaster is co-hosting a new documentary called Trevor McDonald & Charlene White: Has George Floyd Changed Britain?
The show looks at Britain’s response to race in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing and whether there has been change since.
She said: ‘It takes a lot to make me cry, but it got to a point where it was really overwhelming and really did make me cry. It’s never been to that particular level since’
Charlene said she hopes the documentary will inspire conversations ‘by the coffee machine’ among co-workers.
The star likened the conversation around race to that previously had around sexism, saying she would like racism to be called out the same way discrimination against women is.
Trevor McDonald & Charlene White: Has George Floyd Changed Britain? airs on May 12 on ITV at 9pm.
Show: The broadcaster is co-hosting a new documentary called Trevor McDonald & Charlene White: Has George Floyd Changed Britain?