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On a January morning in 2021, Jennifer Thomp- son took a selfie in her home office. "The light was great and I liked what I saw," says Thompson, who runs a To- ronto media and communi- cations company. Yet she hesitated before posting the photo on Insta- gram. That's because, like mil- lions of people around the world -- including, fa- mously, former CTV news anchor Lisa LaFlamme -- Thompson had stopped dyeing her hair during the pandemic. Her brunette bob transformed into a long silver mane. Thomp- son says she initially tried to maintain her colour, but one "very liberating" day, she put down her can of root touch-up spray and never looked back. Still, Thompson knew that "going public" with her grey hair was poten- tially risky, particularly because, in the same post, she mentioned that she was turning 50. "By putting that out there, I thought I was real- ly exposing myself," says Thompson, who shared her trepidation in the post's accompanying cap- tion, including her fear that clients and colleagues would deem her "washed up and out of touch." The public response to Thompson's post ended up being resoundingly posi- tive, although that didn't stop several people in Thompson's private life telling her she "looked old" or that she was "too young to stop dyeing her hair." That social pressure, most often grappled with in private, has burst into the public sphere this week due to the unceremonious ouster of LaFlamme, one of Canada's most respected broadcasters. A recent re- port suggested that senior CTV officials questioned who approved LaFlamme's decision to "go grey." "When I read that, I was disappointed and dis- turbed, but I was not sur- prised," says Thompson. Jeanne Beker, the jour- nalist and TV personality, says she was "shocked" by LaFlamme's firing. "Lisa is so good and really beloved -- everyone respects her in a million different ways," says Beker who has, at points in her career, worked for Bell Media (the parent company of CTV). "I couldn't understand what the rationale could be." Still, Beker cautions against drawing a firm line between CTV's deci- sion and LaFlamme's hair, pointing out that news organizations are political beasts. "I think it's naïve for people to think because Lisa went grey, it was a mark against her. I just don't think it's as simple as that." Beker knows first-hand the realities of ageism in the TV world. "That was the same company I was working for when my show ("Fashion Television") got cancelled, right around my 60th birthday," says Beker, although she adds that she doesn't necessarily con- nect the decision to her age. An experience she had while working elsewhere at Citytv was more explic- it. "I was nine months preg- nant and about to pop, and (a high-profile TV execu- tive) came up to me and said, 'When are you coming back to work after you have this baby of yours?'" When Beker replied she wasn't sure yet, she says he re- plied, "Because, you know, there's a lineup of 20-some- thing girls outside my of- fice door just waiting for your job." Beker was 35. Now 70, Beker is under- going treatment for breast cancer, which has caused some of her hair to fall out. She's shared her journey on social media, including a recent poignant outing to buy a wig. Beker says she regularly hears from well- meaning people telling her she should "go grey" as part of her journey. While she appreciates the sup- port, "it gets my back up a bit," says Beker. "For me, it's such a personal thing. You have to make the choice for yourself. For me, (grey hair) dulls me or I think it would. I didn't even want to try on a grey wig." Instead, she seized the chance to experiment and opted for a glamorous red one. Celina Caesar-Cha- vannes, a former member of Parliament, is all too fa- miliar with people sharing their opinions about her hair. During the pandemic, the lack of salon access forced her to stop straight- ening her curls and instead FASHION AND BEAUTY GREY MATTER: THE LISA LAFLAMME HAIR CONVERSATION HAS RESONATED WITH MANY WOMEN JEANNE BEKER, ARLENE DICKINSON, CELINA CAESAR-CHAVANNES AND OTHERS SHARE THEIR REACTIONS TO THE FORMER ANCHOR'S CONTROVERSIAL OUSTER - AND THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES WITH AGEISM AT WORK SARAH LAING See - page 11