Fox Meteorologist Alleges Body Shaming by Imus

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, January 12, 2018

Janice Dean

"Fox & Friends" host and multiple sclerosis survivor Janice Dean, 47, told Moneyish about having her legs called disgusting in a Facebook comment recently that threw her off balance. The Fox News senior meteorologist was asked to "please stop allowing fox to dress you in those short skirts... Your [sic] an attractive lady but your legs are distracting every time you walk on screen."

She says the Facebook incident is not the first time Dean has been publicly shamed for her body. Before joining Fox over a decade ago, she worked with syndicated talk host Don Imus as a news editor. "On a daily basis, on and off air, he would comment that I was fat" or that they should hire a personal trainer, she says. "He brought in a trainer one time on-air and said, 'Stand up. She needs to get rid of that... her hips and her butt.' I was just so ashamed. So ashamed."

"I live with an illness that could take away [my legs] at any moment," she tells Moneyish. Dean added that if she were to face Imus today, she'd tell him that he couldn't do that to her. "I've always been conscious about what body part I'd like to change, but I'm comfortable in that I know what I'm good at. I want to say to young girls 'it's OK to be yourself, to show who you are.'"

Dean also told Moneyish that this is the first time she's spoken publicly about what "Imus used to say to me."