Vancouver Canucks reporter Kate Pettersen calls out online trolls after 'awful' comments: 'Social media is a scary place'

Vancouver Canucks rinkside reporter Kate Pettersen is taking a stand against online trolls. The TV personality recently took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to address the "scary" remarks she's received from critics.

"Y'all, social media is a scary place. The same guy tweeting about swearing on TV being inappropriate for his kid watching sports thinks it's OK to tweet awful things about my appearance and the way I do my job when he's never met me or spoken to me in his life," Pettersen penned on Feb. 23.

"Or, the Vancouver realtor who suggested that I'm terrible at my job and should try OnlyFans? What kind of world do we live in that people feel it's OK to bash strangers via a keyboard? Makes me sad… Very, very sad."

After a brief hiatus from the social media platform, she followed up with fans, writing: "Took a break from X after posting last night because I felt exhausted at the end of a busy road trip and needed an emotional break. Catching up on all of your kind words has made my morning. It's nice to know the good people definitely outnumber the mean ones!"

Petterson also shared a video reiterating the conversation and addressing the supportive messages she had received since her initial post. In the video, she said that "it has been a very difficult few days because of some bad people writing nasty things."

Petterson said that she can usually handle negative feedback, but this time it got to her.

"I've got thick skin. It happens all the time," she said. "The reality of my job is, it happens all the time… Thursday night, it seemed to be worse than normal. It impacted me more than normal and I was really upset."

She went on to thank "every single person who reached out, every single Canucks fan who wrote kind things, because I read every single one of those."

"It restored my faith in humanity. It made me feel so good," the reporter added. "I went from lots of tears and being very upset to feeling really valued and special. That kindness goes so far."

She called for people to be "nice to each other," adding: "The world is tough. It is a tough place to live. People don't need to write mean things online."

Fans met Petterson's post with supportive messages.

"Couldn't have said it better myself! The world needs more people being nice to each other," an X user wrote.

"Sorry to hear you had to deal with the ugly side of social media. But you've done a great job," someone else replied.

"You've been a major contributor to this season being as memorable as it has been. You're amazing at what you do and we're blessed to have you represent us," shared another.

"You're doing an amazing job. Thank you for all you do for us Canucks fans (and for the team). I truly couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you for always being so, so kind. We're so lucky to have you, proud of you always," a fan weighed in.

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