Reporter Claps Back at Fashion Criticism During Paris Attacks

When news of terrorist attacks in Paris broke earlier this month, the last thing on anyone’s mind was stocking up their wardrobes. But apparently we should have made our fashion choices a “priority” in the midst of Paris’ deadliest attack since World War II, with one man thinking it’s OK to call out ABC news reporter Lisa Millar for wearing a jacket more than once.

Twitter user and noted troll Stephen Blackman suggested that Lisa should fit in a trip to David Jones, commenting that she has been wearing “The same jacket…report after report” during her coverage of the Paris attacks.

Photo: Twitter

Probably perplexed by Stephen’s levels of audacity, Lisa replied in fine form. “Funnily enough I didn’t have time to shop. Mental note to self – pack better when covering breaking news tragedies,” she wrote, eliciting some great responses from social media users and the reporting industry alike.

“I’ve been wearing the same jacket since Friday 13th. We barely had time to eat some days,” Seven Network’s Hugh Whitfield wrote, while Channel Nine’s Tom Steinfort said, “One of my cameramen wore the same underwear for five days straight because he had so little time to pack!”

Perhaps our favourite was by ABC’s James McHale, who wrote, “Lay off Stephen, everyone. He’s simply mixed up Paris Terrorism Tragedy Week with Paris Fashion Week. Easy mistake.”

The situation again brings up an issue of sexism, one which Today’s Karl Stefanovic highlighted by wearing the same suit every day for an entire year on air, without anyone noticing. 

Male or female, the entire thing is just totally ridiculous, because who really cares what anyone is wearing when we are in the middle of a crisis? We’d personally like to thank Lisa for not prioritising an outfit change above reporting live updates to the world. How about you?