Maya Jama has spoken out about being targeted by online trolls.
The Radio 1 DJ revealed how one troll in particular keeps posting photographs of her on social media and “painting beards” on her face while another sends her private messages on Instagram asking her if she’s shaved today.
“I blocked them but then it was happening multiple times a day from different accounts and they had very well Photoshopped photos of me with a beard,” the 24-year-old said.
“They’d made my skin rougher, and had their name as ‘Maya Jama man’.”
Jama explained how she overcomes comments such as these by thinking about their motivation and then trying to laugh it off.
“It’s kind of funny because the pictures are jokes and I kind of look like a mix between Russell Brand and Theo Walcott and they obviously want attention so I re-posted it and everyone had a laugh,” she said at the Glamour Beauty Festival on Sunday before adding that the trolls don’t really affect her anymore.
“I get that I am in some people’s faces a lot, I will just block them and move on,” she added.
“Jokes aside, if you are being trolled, you just have to understand it’s not personal. They obviously have an issue with themselves to go out of their way. Carrying anger is a lot more heavy than carrying love.”
Bristol-born Jama has been working in broadcasting since the age of 16, when she landed a job as a TV presenter for JumpOff TV. She went on to host the MTV Base show before going on to present MTV News.
She has since moved into radio and now hosts BBC Radio 1’s Greatest Hits show on Saturdays.
Jama, whose boyfriend is the British rapper Stormzy, also used her talk to speak about diversity in the beauty industry.
“It’s a struggle to find a shade for every skin tone, especially on a budget,” she added.
While Jama appreciated that some brands are starting to expand their shade ranges to appeal to a wider range of ethnicities, she explained that “there’s such a long way to go”.
“We are in England, we are multicultural so we need colour shades for everyone. Brands need to realise that people have dark skin so we need a shade to suit – and we also get sun tans.”
