MAFS' Jamie calls out online bullies: 'Disgusting and poisonous'

While the outspoken reality TV contestant assures us she has a “strong support network” and is able to brush off the online abuse, it doesn’t mean that it’s acceptable, and these words “still hurt”. 

“From the moment I was leaked on MAFS, I remember like, grown men and women just attacking my appearance before they even knew me. And I remember going, ‘Wow, this is awful.’… people just hate me now because I’m going on a TV show, but they don’t even know who I am,” Jamie recalls. “I kept thinking about someone else in that position, what if they were struggling with their mental health, or they just lost someone that was close to them?”

Now that Jamie has access to her Instagram account and can reach 323,000 people, she’s determined to make a difference. “[Online hate] can take lives, and that’s just what I will not stand for. To me, there’s nothing normal about going out of your way to comment something hateful. There’s nothing okay about pushing someone to destroy their self-worth. It’s disgusting, it’s poisonous, and it needs to stop,” she adds.

Some argue that being a celebrity or in the public eye means that you are required to deal with the highs and lows of fame, but Jamie calls that narrative “tired and dangerous”. 

“I have zero tolerance for online hate, bullying and trolling,” she says. “People should not be allowed to hide behind anonymous accounts and ruin someone’s life.”

Jamie releases statement on Instagram asking people to “choose kindness”

Jamie recently shared a lengthy post on Instagram reminding her followers that there are real people reading all of the comments they leave online. 

She condemned “disgusting behaviour” she’d seen online, including “bullying”, and said she won’t accept this from anyone.

“I can’t thank each of you enough for showing me how incredible humans can be. Your kindness and beautiful messages mean the most and make me want to keep doing what I’m doing. But I think about the ones who don’t have the same support I do. The ones who read those cruel words and start to believe them,” she wrote.

“Words hurt. And none of us are invincible. So please, be kind. Speak up. Shut down hate when you see it. We can do better than this. And we have to.”

Jamie felt compelled to speak out online because of “responsibility,” especially now that she has become a public figure. “I feel like I’ve just been given a platform, and I believe I have a responsibility to use it for good,” she explains. 

“I’ll always speak up, especially for those who can’t speak for themselves.”