NEED TO KNOW
- Missouri anchor Carissa Codel reads rude comments in her news voice in a popular “Reading Viewer Comments” social media series
- Codel has made 14 installments in the series so far, including a Halloween edition, which saw her read comments comparing her to Sabrina Carpenter
- The anchor said she started the series because people in her line of work “have to be really, really big on social media”
If you leave a comment about Carissa Codel’s appearance, you’d better be prepared for her to read it. No, seriously: the Missouri news anchor will read it out loud, on-camera, and share it online.
After receiving lots of rude comments about her appearance, Codel, a news anchor for CBS affiliate KOLR (also known as Ozarks First), decided to give a masterclass on how to take criticism in stride. She started a series showcasing the comments — and it has since become a viral sensation.
Codel first kicked off the series — which sees her reading comments like “shawty obese” and “no oink oink oink” in her news voice while standing in front of a screen displaying them — back in August.
She shares them across platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, where she has amassed more than 1 million likes.
“Honest opinion, touch up the bangs, lose 15 to 20 lbs. Go get ‘em,” Codel began in the very first installment, which she shared on Aug. 17. “Now that fills a frame,” she continued, reading the next comment.
Poking fun at the low jab she read next, Codel then said, “As you guys can see from this graphic here, pig emoji.”
“Built for breeding,” Codel said, quoting the final comment before adding her own touch: “Tonight at 5.” The latter comment inspired about 10 seconds of laughter from both the news anchor and someone else off-camera.
The anchor has since continued the series, which she now calls “Reading Viewer Comments,” for 14 installments, with the latest arriving on Dec. 1. It received more than 2 million views and 200,000 likes on TikTok alone.
She even did a special edition of the series for Halloween, which saw her dressing up as a celebrity whom she frequently draws comparisons to: Sabrina Carpenter. For the holiday video, Codel also kept the theme going with the comments, only reading jabs or compliments relating to Carpenter.
“Guys, when did Sabrina Carpenter eat Sabrina Carpenter?” Codel read in the video, her popstar outfit on and, appropriately, an espresso martini in hand.
“If Sabrina Carpenter had a bakery,” she later read before joking, “My mom is going to be like, ‘Carissa, you cannot post this.’ ”
In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, Codel explained what led to her starting the now-viral video series.
“I started making those videos after I got a few comments on one of my reports. I personally thought they were hilarious and showed how often women in this field are scrutinized for their appearance. I wanted my video reading the comments to stand out, so that’s where the newscaster voice came in,” she said.
“I feel like we can all hear how silly troll comments sound when they’re read out loud,” Codel continued, adding, “I never thought that they would go as viral as they have, but I’m so thankful for the support. I truly feel grateful for the little community that’s been built.”
Codel also opened up about why she started the popular comment-reading series on Attention Addiction, a podcast co-hosted by her mom, Codie, in the Nov. 2 episode.
The news anchor said that she was “thinking ‘Okay, well. For my job, we have to be really, really big on social media, ‘cause that’s where news is going, right, it’s all going digital.’ ”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Her mother, meanwhile, said that upon seeing the comments, she was in “mom fight mode like, ‘Ah, I’m coming at you. Don’t talk about my kid like that.’ ”
“So fight mode was happening inside of me,” added the proud mom, “and I called her up, and she was like, ‘Oh no. This is great. This is great, because people just keep wanting to comment ‘cause they want to get mentioned.’ ”
The internet-famous journalist has also received support from her coworkers. Her fellow morning anchor, Angela Luna, shared a video holding Codel while lip-syncing along to a viral audio clip: “Scram! Leave her alone! She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“When people leave weird comments for your co-anchor,” Luna captioned the clip.
Leave a Reply