Tori Spelling's husband, Dean McDermott, is opening up about the toll online criticism has taken on his children.

During Monday's episode of his "Daddy Issues" podcast, the actor called social media a "necessary evil," adding that his kids are old enough to read the comments themselves.

McDermott and Spelling share five children – Liam, 12, Stella, 11, Hattie, 7, Finn, 6, and Beau, 2. McDermott also has son Jack, 20, with ex-wife Mary Jo Eustace.

"The kids got bullied for their clothes they were wearing on the first day of school," McDermott said. "Tori posted a picture from the first day of school and they're like, 'Oh my god, look at their hair,' 'Oh my god, are those clothes from Target?'"

'Shame on you all!':Tori Spelling's husband, Dean McDermott, slams people body shaming his kids

McDermott is referring to a photo Spelling posted on Instagram in January in which her family posed with "Beverly Hills, 90210" castmate Ian Ziering and his brood. Trolls attacked everything about their children's appearance, from their weight to clothing.

"Liam has seen it and he's 12. He saw some of that stuff," McDermott said, adding that the kids are aware of the tabloids and headlines in the supermarket.

McDermott said that although his son handled the criticism and body-shaming "really, really well," he still questioned, "Dad, am I obese?"

"I said, 'Look buddy. There's some sick people in the world. There's some sick people in the world, and they need to do stuff like this. They need to say bad things about people,'" he recalled telling Liam, adding, "I hate social media. I hate it, I hate it."

Related: Dean McDermott fires back at 'cowards' who criticized Tori Spelling's bikini picture

McDermott defended his children back in January.

"I am absolutely horrified and disgusted by the comments being left about my children," he wrote. "Body shaming and bullying my children??!! What is wrong with you people?"

He continued: "People come in all shapes and sizes. So who are you to judge. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for passing such horrible judgement on innocent beautiful children. Shame on you all!!!! Thank you to all the people who came to our defense. You’re all kind compassionate souls. Down with the haters!! Up with love!!"

Contributing: Julia Thompson

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