The "hate mail" could very well have been from trolls making general, nasty comments. I posted about this earlier and spoke of my experiences (I have a job that necessitates a great amount of public interaction, most of which occurs online). I receive "hate mail" just about every day, even though what I do has nothing to do with politics, religion, or other polarizing topics. On my FB page yesterday I shared some examples of troll mail I've received this week alone. One person made fun of my hair (it's very blonde). Another person wrote and told me that they hoped someone would murder me because, well, I don't really know why. Just because. My 6-year-old is in the media a lot. Every time she gets out there, we are barraged with emails and calls from people who are literally just making fun of her, threatening her (or us), or hating on her looks (she is quite beautiful). As I shared in my other post, I once received a public comment from someone saying that she was "an abomination but still rapeable." She was 3 at the time.
I have a very non-polarizing job. My job literally just requires me to entertain people. That doesn't stop the trolls from trollin'. The "haters" don't have to "interpret" anything. If you do something that puts you out in the public eye, even for a second, then you're opening yourself up to a world of miserable people who simply want to be mean.