Natalie Barr has revealed that online trolling has left her in tears, blocking hundreds of people on social media in a bid to escape it.
The Sunrise co-host said during a panel at the Women of the Future Awards on Wednesday that she has cried and felt like hiding in a corner after being attacked online.
She touched on the backlash she faced after taking the Sunrise role following Samantha Armytage’s departure, saying it had a real impact on her.
Nat Barr at the Women of the Future Awards.
(Jason McCormack)“The comments are [like] the gutter… you kind of want to have a look, but it’s really, really dangerous,” she said of the vile online attacks.
While she confessed that her male co-stars also face attacks online, Nat revealed that the nature of the trolling is very different.
While her co-host David ‘Kochie’ Koch receives cruel physical threats, trolling aimed at women like Nat often involves horrific threats of sexual violence.
After airing a recent segment on dealing with anti-vax rhetoric at Christmas, Nat received so much social media trolling that she had to block more than 100 people just in the hours after it aired.
“I’ve got screenshots of people saying ‘die b—ch, die’ all the usual stuff,” she revealed of the vile attacks.
“I’ve had pictures sent to me that say ‘this b—ch needs to die, how are we going to do it?'”
Nat previously spoke to TV WEEK about the trolling she received when she first stepped into the Sunrise role, saying that she’s developed a thick skin.
“I get hate mail, I get death threats,” she said at the time. “I’ve worked in newsrooms for over 30 years. I defy you to offend me.”
“I’ve turned off all these notifications on my Twitter feed. I can block people in my DMs [direct messages]. Or I report them, as everyone does that in the modern world.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help is always available. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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