now for you

he I'm so beautiful backlash: In yesterday's Mail, Samantha Brick claimed other women loathe her for being too attractive. It provoked a worldwide internet storm. Here she 

Brickbats: Writer Samantha was reduced to tears by the reaction to her articleThe past 24 hours have been, to be blunt, among the most horrendous of my life. But then, the 4,510 (at the time of writing) people who have left comments on Mail Online, and the thousands who have done the same on Twitter, would probably say that it's all my own fault.esterday, I wrote an article in the Mail, posing the question: Why do women hate me for being beautiful? The response it provoked has been extraordinary in its volume and vitriol, and beyond anything I could have imagined when I first started work at my keyboard.

Of course, I knew when I came up with the idea that it would provoke debate. I'd even prefaced the idea by explaining to the editor that I was fully aware I was setting myself up for a fall. I knew this was sensitive territory at which women would take umbrage — but I thought it was a taboo that needed shattering.

Yet even I could never have imagined the fury my piece would spawn and the thousands  upon thousands of nasty comments I've been subjected to since it  was published.

I've been lambasted on Twitter. Dragons' Den judge Duncan Bannatyne has asked if what I've written is 'a joke', DJ Lauren Laverne tweeted about me all day (none of it nice) and countless  so-called comedians have written unprintable things about me.

Other people who don't know me have queued up to call me ugly, stupid, a b****.

Then there are those who have sought out my email address and bombarded my inbox with bile-filled messages — over 1,000 so far.

I've had malicious mail from everyone from Swedish crime writers to bored housewives asking me what planet I'm on for daring to write such a feature.

This was all from strangers. But far worse came from those I had considered friends. When I logged on to Facebook, I found a group of them had torn me to shreds. Some were asking: 'What the hell does Sam think she's on?'

Others I haven't seen since  college had crawled out of the woodwork to criticise me for 'always being like that' — and even for having a 'girly voice'.

While I've been shocked and hurt by the global condemnation, I have just this to say: my detractors have simply proved my point. Their level of anger only underlines that no one in this world is more reviled than a pretty woman.

In my article, I recalled how men I'd never met before had sent bottles of bubbly to my restaurant table, presented me with impromptu bouquets and even bought train tickets for me — all on account of my pretty face.

And yet women had reacted to my good looks in a very different way. Their hostility had stood in my way at work and even friends had dropped me, fearing their husbands fancied me.

Without doubt, this is a gender issue. For not only is it mostly women who are attacking me, it is also because I am female that I am being attacked for acknowledging my attractiveness. 

If Brad Pitt were to say: 'Yes, I'm a good-looking fella,' then the world would nod sagely in agreement. But if Angelina Jolie uttered something along those lines, she'd be subject to the same foaming-at-the-mouth onslaught hurled at me yesterday. 

Similar plight? If Brad said he was a good looking fella, women would nod sagely - but if Angelina dared say the same, women would attack in the same way she has been attacked, says Samantha

I've been astounded at the intelligent women — I'm talking well-known columnists and opinion-formers — who, rather than entering into a debate about why we can't compliment women when they are good looking, have instead taken to their Twitter accounts to trash me in typical playground bully style.

Smart women I've previously admired appear to have relished putting the boot in. No debate, no discussion, let's just attack this bit of skirt for daring to declare she thinks she's not too bad when she looks in the mirror. 

Samantha says she can't understand why people would post some of the more extreme abuse she has received on the internet

Perhaps one of the most extreme comments on Twitter comes from a woman who declares: 'Samantha Brick should be bricked to death.'

As far as I can see, the criticism falls into two camps: those who judge me for daring to mention my attractiveness and those who wish to attack my appearance, calling me ugly — well, that's a polite way of putting it. And it's the latter camp who are harder to brush off.

I'm normally pretty thick-skinned, but tears have welled in my eyes on more than one occasion. 

TV illusionist Derren Brown was one of a number of celebrities who took to Twitter after reading the story

Take the latest message I've just received, which is pretty mild — but the intention is still to wound: 'I am sorry to be the one to burst your arrogant and conceited bubble but I don't find you attractive at all. You look a fool.'

Or how about this one, who used her office email and signs herself as an admin executive: 'You look a ridiculous fool, you make me ill'.

I am at a loss as to understand what goes through someone's mind before they press the 'send' button on a message like that.

I'm the first to give out compliments when someone I know looks good or has made an effort. I don't understand why other women don't do the same.

Samantha, who lives with her husband Pascal Brick in France, has learnt a lot about the internet in the last 24 hours

What really struck me was how quickly the fury snowballed.

When I first logged on to the Mail's website at 6am, there were only four comments on my article. I thought nothing of it and got on with my day, driving to the supermarket to do the weekly shop.

It was on my way there that I started receiving phone calls and emails to my BlackBerry — within an hour there had been 1,000 comments left on the website. And by mid-morning the Twitter debate was in full flow, with my story eventually getting an unprecedented one million hits.

The phone calls were largely from other people in the media — radio and television researchers — calling in their droves to ask me to defend myself in the face of the 'Twitterstorm'. Most of them, when they spoke to me, conceded (and were surprised to do so) that I was 'all right' as a person and had a point in writing the piece. Predictably some went on to lecture me for thinking I was all that.

No one bothered to ask how I was coping. But what everyone wanted to know, vulture-like, was what it's like to be so hated and reviled.

Well, I'll tell you what it's like: it's soul-destroying.

Until this week I never really understood the term 'Trolling' — used to describe when anonymous people viciously attack others on the internet. Now I do!

It would appear it's OK for anyone to post comments without any remorse or thought for the consequences their actions might have.

And although such technology is global, and there were plenty of comments from around the world, I do consider this particular breed of venom to be especially poisonous when coming from the British.

I have lived and worked in Los Angeles and I doubt that such a reaction to my piece would have happened there. For in the U.S. you're expected to look good and you're rightly applauded for it.

Samantha Brick, pictured with her husband Pascal Brick, faced a barrage of abuse on websites all around the world

No woman would ever dare to go to work in a pair of Uggs, grubby top and tracksuit bottoms (and expect to receive tea and sympathy for having a fat day). Unsurprisingly then, over in the U.S. there just isn't the same level of female jealously, snippiness and rivalry that there is the UK.

BBC DJ Lauren Laverne posted a series of tweets about Samantha's article

Is it any wonder Victoria Beckham has decided to stay put in LA, rather than move back to Hertfordshire? She knows better than anyone how your looks can be used against you in Britain — here we reward false modesty instead and gang up against anyone who isn't suitably self-deprecating.

Samantha's story was trending all day on Twitter and sparked thousands of comments

While I have a strong coterie of friends who emailed me all day asking me if I was OK, telling me this will all pass and trying to shield me from the worst of the insults lobbed my way, what hurt the most?

The tears really fell when I happened across those sly and sneaky comments from women I know well enough to call friends messaging each other about me on Facebook.

Women I've supported emotionally and financially taking the first opportunity to declare I had it coming. And what has my husband made of all this? 

At first, he shrugged it off, saying they were just the spiteful remarks of a few jealous women. But as the storm brewed . . . well, I've had to hide the worst of it from him; the tame few I've read out have riled him enough to want to take his own form of action.

Yes, I have cried on and off all day. But do I regret my article? Not at all. I'm know I'm risking the wrath of the online community once more, but there is an irony to yesterday. While I was tearfully dealing with the emails and calls outside the supermarket, a young man approached me, offered to park my car and even get me a coffee.

He could see I was having a tough time — and yes, my looks had helped me out again.

I know women reading this will think I deserve to be attacked again. But why should I be? Yes, I'm a good-looking woman — albeit one that has feelings, too.

You've got the wrong sky! How James Cameron altered night sky in reworked Titanic 3D after TEN years of complaints from outspoken astronomer

• Harvard-trained astrophysicist Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson said Rose looks up at wrong night sky in famous scene
• After several attempts, Cameron said he'd change it if Tyson provided correct configuration

Bctor James Cameron, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, has made only one change in the re-release of his 1997 blockbuster, Titanic – and it’s all thanks to one man. 

American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson was on Cameron’s case for more than a decade trying to have a historically accurate night sky - spoiler alert - in the scenes after the Titanic sank.

After several encounters, Dr Tyson got his wish, but first, Cameron challenged Dr Tyson to send him the exact constellation map for the sky around 4:20am on April 15, 1912.

The sky's the limit: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, right, convinced Titanic director James Cameron, left, to make the night sky historically accurate in the film's 3D release

That sinking feeling: Dr Tyson said the sky seen during the night of April 15, 1912, was mirrored and incorrect

Dr Tyson, who directs the Rose Centre for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, was happy to oblige; he sent Cameron a detailed map of the stars that night, saying astronomy is an easy thing to track.

He knew something was erroneous when he first watched the film.

He told MailOnline: ‘Normally, I don’t concern myself with director’s errors. But the film was marketed how historically accurate the film was – they observed the state rooms and the china patterns. He put the effort into making the period piece.’

Dr Tyson added: ‘Clearly, you wouldn’t put Leonardo DiCaprio in striped bell bottoms – and you shouldn’t do that with the night sky.’

He said the star placement in the sky was the wrong sky, and used a mirror reflection to fill in the other half.

Historically, he said, the sky ‘was cloudless and moonless – we have software you can run that just unwinds the star patterns – you get the right time and the right date, the sky is a very predictable thing, and what birthed our understanding of physics.’

Up she goes: Kate Winslet's character Rose looked up into a historically inaccurate sky in the scene after the Titanic sinks and she and Jack are huddled in the wreckage - the most inaccurate scene, according to Dr Tyson

What Rose saw: Though difficult to see, the left-hand portion of the original sky was a mirror image of the right, and furthermore, was not accurate to begin with; Dr Tyson added that it was cloudless the night of April 15

What Rose should see: Dr Tyson said Rose should have seen the Big Dipper, bottom and centre, as well as The Milky Way, which crosses the upper half, based on the coordinates where the Titanic sank

The Harvard-educated astrophysicist sent Cameron a letter, and heard no response. 

He then had two personal encounters with the Avatar director, in which he voiced his complaint – one at a NASA committee dinner and another at magazine awards dinner.

Cameron first told Dr Tyson that the night sky was completed in post-production.

SCIENCE OF STARS: HOW DR TYSON KNEW THE SKY OF APRIL 15, 1912

Dr Tyson told MailOnline that composing the night sky the way it appeared in the 1997 film was 'not only wrong but lazy.'

He calculated what the sky would have looked like around 4:20am on April 15, 1912 by using the approximate latitude and longitude where the ship went down in the North Atlantic. 

Using that data, he was able to render what the night sky would have actually looked like.

On that night, the sky was cloudless and moonless. 

He said: 'We have software you can run that just unwinds the star patterns - if you get the right time and the right date, the sky is a very predictable thing, and what birthed our understanding of physics.'

‘I really wanted him to grovel and ask forgiveness,’ Dr Tyson joked,’ but the mature side of me nodded and I didn’t say anything else.’

Dr Tyson composed Cameron a letter requesting the mistake be rectified, but got no response.
It was only years later that the two of them happened to be at a dinner together at the Hayden Planetarium in New York.

As the night progressed, Dr Tyson mustered the courage to talk to Cameron, saying: ‘Jim, my issue here is not that the sky was wrong, it was that you got everything else right.’

He said Cameron then told him: ‘Last I checked, Titanic has grossed $1.3billion. Imagine how much more money the film would have grossed if I would have gotten the sky correct.’

In response to the comment, Cameron told UK magazine Culture that he did, in fact, make the one change.

He said: ‘Neil deGrasse Tyson sent me quite a snarky email saying that, at that time of year, in that position in the Atlantic in 1912, when Rose is lying on the piece of driftwood and staring up at the stars, that is not the star field she would have seen.

‘And with my reputation as a perfectionist, I should have known that and I should have put the right star field in.’

Dr Tyson said his tenacity finally paid off, saying that he was ‘nipping at his heels’ for ten years.

The new 3D version of Titanic – complete with the astronomically correct night sky – will be out later this week.

Stars align: James Cameron first told Dr Tyson that the stars were added in post-production

'I've never seen anything like it': Texas picks up the pieces after unprecedented twin tornadoes tossed TRUCKS across the skies

• Arlington and Lancaster declared 'disaster zones' in wake of tornadoes, 300 homes damaged in Lancaster  
• News footage shows tractor-trailers being thrown by massive twister
• Homes in path of storm reduced to rubble, roofs ripped of buildings and cars overturned by powerful storms
• More than a dozen people injured, but amazingly NO fatalities have been reported
• Tens of thousands of homes without power

pieces of their devastated neighbourhoods after a cluster of tornadoes ripped through major towns and cities in the state yesterday. 

Homes were reduced to rubble and more than a dozen people injured as the powerful storm swept trucks across the skies and base-ball sized hail stones punched holes in the roofs of cars and homes.

Meteorologists said it was the first time two 'extremely dangerous' tornadoes hit two large metropolitan areas at the same time.  Arlington and Lancaster were worst hit with both areas being declared 'disaster zones', while damage was reported in at least nine cities in five counties. 

But incredibly no-one so far been reported killed by the staggering series of six to 12 twisters believed to have touched down at some point in the area.

Scroll down for video

Touch down: a motorist caught the devastating impact of a tornado smashing into the ground in Lancaster, Texas

Wiped out: Homes in Lancaster, Texas, were completely destroyed by the tornado that devastated the area yesterday

Shambles: Residents in Arlington, Texas, began the arduous task of cleaning up after tornadoes tore through the area

'I have never seen two tornadoes hit two large metropolitan areas at the same time before,' AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity said, reports Newsroom America. 

Brandy Kemps, who filmed one of the tornadoes in north Texas, told ABC News; 'Debris was flying right in front of me in the air - shingles, dirt, tree limbs. The tornado funnel was coming right at us, then went directly behind the apartment building I was in.'

One tornado tore through the Flying J Truck Plaza in Dallas, grabbing two trailer trucks and tossing them, said truck driver Michael Glennon, who caught the destruction on his video camera as debris swirled through the air.

In Sunnyvale, Heather Montoya said the dark funnel shook her entire home and left uprooted trees inside and her furniture scattered all over her property.

Aerial: This incredible picture shows lorries that have been thrown from a parking area into nearby woods in Lancaster, Texas

In ruins: Arlington residents pick through the wreckage of their trailer (left) as police officers rescue Phoebe the dog from a home in the same area (right)

Mess: A vehicle lies toppled over in Forney, Texas, in front of homes whose roofs have been torn off and wrecked

'It was insane. We have a lot of windows in our house. The whole house started shaking and in five seconds it was completely done,' she told ABC Dallas.

A grandmother in Diamond Creeks, Forney, where 20 to 30 homes were severely damaged, sought refuge in a bath-tub with her grandchildren as the walls of her home collapsed. 

She was forced to hold on to her 18-month-old grandson's legs as the powerful winds almost swept him away.

Most of Dallas was spared the full wrath of the storm. Yet in Lancaster, where around 300 homes were destroyed, television helicopters panned over exposed homes without roofs and flattened buildings. Broken sheets of plywood blanketed lawns and covered rooftops.

A pastor at one Lancaster church saw debris swirling in the wind, then herded more than 30 children, some newborns, into a windowless room to ride out the storm. Nearby at the church's school, about 60 children hid in another windowless room near the women's bathroom.

Flying: A lorry trailer sweeps through the air as the tornado devastated the Dallas-Fort Worth area

Flying high: A lorry trailer was thrown up into the skies of Dalls as the tornado wreaked chaos across the area

wister: A piece of a tractor-trailer is shown being blown above Dallas County, Texas, as a massive tornado touches down in the region

An entire wall of Cedar Valley Christian Academy was taken out in the storm. Pastor Glenn Young said he didn't know when the school might re-open. 'I'm a little concerned,' Young said. 'This is our livelihood.'

Residents could be seen walking down the street with firefighters and peering into homes, looking at the damage after the storm passed.

Devlin Norwood said he was at his Lancaster home when he heard the storm sirens. He said he made a quick trip to a nearby store when he saw the funnel-shaped tornado lower, kick up debris and head toward his neighbourhood.

'I didn't see any damage until I got back home. We had trees destroyed, fences down, boards down, boards penetrating the roof and the house, shingles damaged,' said Norwood, 50, an accountant and graduate student.

This aerial picture shows the trail of destruction left by a tornado that hit Lancaster peeling roofs off some homes and completely flattening others

Devastation: Cars are piled up against homes in Lancaster, Texas, (left) as residents (right) dig through the remains of a house in Arlington

Residents in Arlington go through their belongings in an upstairs area after a tornado ripped the roof off their home

Cleaning up: Jackie Lucas and Pam Lacy sweep up debris in Arlington (left) as Yuomiko Paige hugs neighbour Doris Sparks (right) in Forney

Personal belongings are scattered outside a house damaged in Kennedale

Driving hazard: Cars try to navigate around debris scattered in the street in southern Dallas County (left) as a home is destroyed in Lancaster, Texas

Destruction: A woman stands in front of a house that had two vehicles thrown into it by the force of the tornadoes in Lancaster, Texas

Officer Paul Beck said 10 people were injured in the suburb, two of them severely.

Assistant Arlington fire chief Jim Self said three people suffered minor injuries there, including two residents of a nursing home who were taken to a hospital after swirling winds clipped the building. Around 50 homes were damaged in the area.

'Of course the windows were flying out, and my sister is paralysed, so I had to get someone to help me get her in a wheelchair to get her out of the room'" said Joy Johnston, who was visiting her 79-year-old sister at the Green Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. "It was terribly loud."

At the nearby Omni Mandalay Las Colinas hotel, tornado sirens sounded, alerting guests to get to safety. 'The hotel has not been evacuated but we do have guests under cover,' said a telephone receptionist at 421-room hotel. 

The storm is believed to have levelled several homes, and tens of thousands of others are without power.

Homeowners survey the damage of their house in Kennedal which has been severely damaged as have two cars which were flung against the property like toys

Human tragedy: Hundreds of people in Lancaster have been left homeless

Personal belongings are scattered outside a house damaged in Kennedale

National Weather Service meteorologist Amber Elliott confirmed  two separate tornadoes had touched down, one in Arlington, Texas and another in Dallas. Nine separate tornado warnings have been issued by the weather service for the Dallas area so far on Tuesday, she said.

Her cups runneth over: A giddy Nicki Minaj spills out of her star-studded basque while promoting new CD in NYC 

Nicki Minaj really knows how to drive home the message that she's a star. 

The 29-year-old singer made a daring fashion choice today by opting for a tight-fitting basque to a promotional event in New York City. 

She paired the star-studded suit with ribbed tights, leopard-print heels and a cropped, shiny tuxedo jacket. 

Eye popping: The newly blonde singer made her best assets visible

Vogue, strike a pose: The 29-year-old singer was promoting her new album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded 

She also wore a gigantic piece of bling around her neck spelling out 'Roman', which is the title of her latest album. 

Though her ensemble might have seemed racy on anyone else, for Minaj, this look is fairly standard. 

She usually sports candy colours, hot pink lips, mile-long lash extension and bubble gum pink hair, after all.

Her cups runneth over: NIcki Minaj appeared at Best Buy in Harlem, NYC today to promote her new CD

The R&B/pop diva may have considered this look to be downright sophisticated, given that she traded in her candy coated locks for a demure, pin-straight blonde wig. 

Her make-up was even subtle; her light pink lipstick was almost sweet. 

However, the tight-fitting basque may have showed off a little too much of her best assets.

Given that she often calls both herself and her fans 'Barbie', it isn't hard to see where Minaj got the inspiration for her look. 

What type of doll she was going for still remains to be seen. 

The 29-year-old singer was making an appearance at the Best Buy in Harlem, NYC to promote her latest album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. 

Great gift! A fan gave the singer a gigantic teddy bear as a present

The album is named after one of her many musical alter egos, Roman Zolanski. 

During the in-store promotional event, she happily posed with a bunch of young Barbz, who were clad in similar pink shades. 

She couldn't resist letting the world know how excited she was by her sophomore effort. 

She tweeted earlier in the day: '106&Park tonite as well as my NYC signing @ BestBuy!!!! Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!! See ya soon barbz!!!!!' 

A star-studded new CD: Lil Wayne and Drake appear on Minaj's sophomore effort

They're even wearing the same necklace! The little girl on the left has Barbie bling to match Nicki's Roman chain

Though the album has already received criticism from critics because she chose to mix genres on the album, adding both dance and rap, she does have some heavyweights helping her out. 

Both Drake and Lil' Wayne collaborate on Roman Reloaded. 

Minaj hasn't et any negativity or unfair judgements get her down today, though: she's celebrating. 

She wrote on her Twitter page: 'Ok barbz. Gonna work on re-stocking the stores!!!! And gonna sip on this margarita and get right!!!! Let's go!!!' 

A typical Nicki outfit: The singer dressed up in a rainbow ballgown at Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards on Saturday