Per reports coming out of Sydney media today, Daily Mail Australia has decided to have a re-think of some of its values, and will turn over a new leaf when it come to “fat-shaming” and generally dragging celebrities into the gutter.
This move comes after an intense backlash from an article that the Mail published last year about Sunrise host Sam Armytage, who was photographed grocery shopping in Bondi in what their writer called “giant granny panties.”
The piece was built around paparazzi shots of the morning show host, and the accompanying text read:
“Sunrise host Sam Armytage dares to bare with giant granny panties showing a visible line as she steps out in Sydney … after slamming rumours she’s dating Channel Seven colleagues.”
Soon after the article went up, lawyers for Armytage are said to have contacted the Daily Mail, slamming the publication for its attempt to “humiliate and shame” her and demanding that it be taken down.
Armytage is still fighting the tabloid media on multiple fronts – just last night, she called the police when a drone appeared over her house – but it appears that she has successfully rattled the Daily Mail.
An anonymous source from the paper spoke to Fairfax today, saying that there was a sense of “panic” following the backlash, and that the team behind the ‘Granny Panties’ piece were told to “bring up the quality of the publication.”
“More stories are now being sent to be legalled before being set live for extra precautions,” the source added, which seems like a diplomatic way of saying “we’re covering our arses so we don’t get sued”, but sure.
Armytage hasn’t responded to this yet, but last night, she sent out a Tweet praising Wikipedia for its rebuke of the Daily Mail, calling the publication “dreadful BS” and “mostly untrue.”
Not only terrible, but mostly untrue.
Time we all banned the dreadful BS that is the DM. https://t.co/c3KLKAJvSn— Samantha Armytage (@sam_armytage) February 11, 2017
Source: Fairfax.
Photo: Sam Tabone / Getty.
