Daily Mail Australia has come under fire after publishing a story about Sam Armytage's "giant granny panties".
The story, which largely consists of paparazzi photos of the Sunrise host's behind taken while she was grocery shopping, was published on Sunday night under the headline, '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'.
"The TV personality's oversized granny panties showed through the garment with a clearly visible line," one sentence read.
The in-depth description of Armytage's "makeup free" look was followed by various rumours about Armytage's love life which have circulated over the past week, all of which were expressly denied by the television presenter in an Instagram post on Sunday (which was included in the Mail's write-up).
The story was immediately lambasted on Twitter and the publication's Facebook page.
😱 SHOCK HORROR, Girls wear comfy undies too!.. this is surely some kind of joke, right? @DailyMailAU @samarmytage pic.twitter.com/nd2SHvOp8P
— Melanie (@melaniesays) December 11, 2016
Girls put your "giant granny panties" out tomorrow to support @sam_armytage the Daily Mail have been callous, cruel and disgusting to her.
— Tracey Hill (@hilly2327) December 11, 2016
@DailyMailAU @samarmytage
— Wenz (@wenz66) December 11, 2016
Just another form of #ViolenceAgainstWomen Disgusting that you call this "journalism" ..
Of all the things Sam Armytage should be ashamed of, how could anyone think “her habit of wearing underpants” is a pertinent one? https://t.co/lk751Unsyy
— Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) December 11, 2016
What I've learned from social media:
— Angela Wilson (@ange_wilson) December 11, 2016
Women should wear underwear (see Chrissy Teigen)
Women should not wear underwear (see Sam Armytage)
The story came only hours after Armytage had posted on Instagram criticising tabloid reporting about her private life, after News.com.au reported she was in a relationship with Channel Seven journalist Peter Fegan.
"In the past week or so, according to the gossips, I've been 'in love with'; a gay colleague, a straight colleague, a bloke I stood next to at the races 3 months ago, a Gladiator, a British boy-band member & 17 other people I've never met," she wrote.
"All these men, & I have a bedtime of 7.30pm.....I'm amaaaazing [sic]," she joked, before encouraging her fanbase to not "read/buy this rubbish".
Armytage has not commented on Daily Mail's story. Buzzfeed reports Armytage is contemplating legal action.
@sam_armytage @sunriseon7 @edwina_b @natalie @talithacummins7 @clementine_ford @MailOnline......Your headline was broken so I fixed it. pic.twitter.com/5Lr5Sq8N0f
— EJG1997 (@EJG1997) December 11, 2016