Longniddry model Emily Hawthorne 'crushed' by abuse over Instagram image

A Valentine’s Day picture of Emily Hawthorne, 20, about to eat sushi at home in Longniddry, attracted a flood of derogatory comments after Edinburgh restaurant Maki & Ramen reposted the image to its Instagram account.

She said the post was intended to showcase a safe and fun Valentine’s Day at home in line with coronavirus restrictions.

Emily Hawthorne shared the image inset of her enjoying a Valentine's meal, only to be flooded with abusive comments

Emily said: “I happened to check the comments to see how the photo was doing and the number of vile things being said about me was truly shocking.

“I was physically shaking – I had a panic attack and I thought: ‘I want to curl up into a ball and delete myself.’

“What was genuinely dreadful was that most of the comments were from women, saying rude things and tagging their friends.

“I was always taught that women should support women, so to see the harsh comments from females was horrible.”

In a post on social media, Japanese restaurant Maki & Ramen expressed its concern about the abuse.

The post said: “As an all-female marketing team, we would like to express our hope that women can dine in their homes in this time of great challenge, dressing however they feel comfortable, without receiving comments of a judgemental or derogatory nature.”

Emily (pictured below), who has more than 9,500 Instagram followers, has had to face many challenges and hurdles on her modelling journey so far.

She said the string of vile comments by social media users –many because she was wearing a low-cut dress – had triggered memories of bullying she experienced in school.

Emily, a former pupil of Preston Lodge High School, Prestonpans, said she was bullied to the point she had to transfer to North Berwick High School, where she said the bullying continued.

She said: “I was bullied to the point I was depressed, upset and a danger to myself.

“The tragedy of being a victim of bullying in this day and age is that, once the taunting has finished at school, it moves online.”

She explained: “People from school would take photographs from my Facebook page and edit them to troll me on Twitter and compare me to horrible things.

“At school, I was shoved in the corridors, people threw stuff at me and taunted me online, which led to me leaving school at 15 with no qualifications, which is disappointing because, growing up, they are very important.”

At 16, Emily signed to top Scottish modelling agency Colours Agency.

She said: “At the time I joined Colours, I suffered from bad cystic acne, so before I was able to work, I was told I needed to improve my skin, which was upsetting as a young teenager to be told you are not good enough, but I kept faith and I worked as hard as I could.”

In 2018, the 20-year-old made it to the final of the ‘Miss Edinburgh’ pageant.

She now has an impressive portfolio and is proud of having three of her images featured on Vogue Italia’s website.

Now, The Miss Super Talent Scotland 2020 model is signed with Mayhem Agency and has her sights set on modelling campaigns and photoshoots in the UK and abroad, post-Covid.

Emily is encouraging her followers to take care of their mental health and spread kindness across all social media platforms.

She aims to raise awareness and understanding of bullying and internet trolling by sharing her own experience and inviting others to share theirs.

She said: “I remember being really young and not wanting to be alive any more. I felt let down, small and alone – flash forward a few years, and I now have amazing friends, lovely supportive people in my life and I love the content I put out into the world.

“Resources such as NHS 24 and online mental health chatrooms allowed me to speak to someone in confidence and they reminded me that I am worthy. You will always shine brighter than the people that try to put you down.

“I will never forget what I went through and how my bullies made me feel, but we should focus on building each other up, encouraging others to be the best they can be and remembering the Caroline Flack movement ‘Be Kind’.”

An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “We do not tolerate bullying in any of our schools and we will work closely with all parties when issues arise.

“Our school teams work hard to create supportive environments for learning and there are policies and processes in place to deal with any form of harassment.

“We would always ask young people experiencing issues to discuss it in confidence with a member of staff.”