Toronto Volunteer Orchestra Fat-Shames Singers

According to the BBC, The Sheraton Cadwell Orchestra asked volunteer singers who were not "fit and slim" to wear dresses with a loose fit, to hide what they called "dietary indulgences." Singer Victoria Leone received an email Monday from the Orchestra, which initiated the conflict.

The email stated, "'Although almost all of our vocalists are fit and slim - the way our boutique orchestra would like our front line performing artists to be... two of our featured singers were not...We hope that they would, as such, refrain from using tight-fitting dresses and use loose (less physically-revealing, less physically-accentuating) dresses instead.'"

Leone was rightly outraged at the message and replied to the email as such, quitting the organization. She told bbc.com The Sheraton Cadwell Orchestra did not apologize, instead thanking Leone for her time and asking her to reread certain parts of the original message concerned with dressing more appropriately.

Many other singers expressed their discontent with the email, and only after this did the management of the orchestra send Leone a follow up message. "We sincerely apologize for any embarrassment/harassment that you may experience from media representatives or other individuals/parties as a result of misconstrued/malicious allegations and extremely negative/destructive/evil intent."

Leone spoke to the CBC, saying that she did not consider this a real apology.

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