For women in Hollywood, it would appear that there's no such thing as being too skinny.
But even with La La Land's notorious obsession with thinness, many A-listers have come under
fire for going too far. Here are the stars who clapped back at the shamers.
Australian model and actress Ruby Rose is all too familiar with being body-shamed. After
posting a photo of herself on Instagram in 2017, several commenters chimed in, calling
the star, quote, "anorexic." Rose responded with a message in an Instagram story, where
she explained,
"It's so frustrating. Not because I care about what someone thinks of my body. […] I hate
it because it worries fans or shames them. I hate it because it uses no logic and basically
is just someone projecting their experience and expectations on others."
The star further revealed that she eats a healthy, plant-based diet and doesn't drink
alcohol or eat processed foods. She added,
"I trained my a-- off for 3 action films, I used to be a boxer. My body is just my body."
"I was an amateur boxer for a couple years and I competed and won. I'm undefeated…because
it was only two fights. And my mom made me stop."
After LeAnn Rimes divorced her husband, Dean Sheremet , fans became hyper-focused on the
singer's weight. After tweeting out a bikini pic in 2011, Rimes was hit by a barrage of
comments, with one user writing:
"Whoa, you're scary skinny! Sorry don't mean to offend but that's a lot of bones showing
through skin."
Rimes replied, clarifying that those "bones" were actually "abs," and added,
"This is my body and I can promise you I'm a healthy girl. I'm just lean. [Thanks] for
your concern but no need to be."
Although some fans may have been genuinely worried about the star's health, Rimes surely
didn't appreciate having her body labeled as, quote, "scary." The singer's trainer dispelled
some of the concern when detailing the star's workout routine and diet, telling Fox News
Magazine,
"[LeAnn] eats a lot of lean meats — fish, chicken, maybe on occasion, lean turkey. A
lot of vegetables — broccoli, carrots, and asparagus."
"When I was younger, I think it was more restrictive, it was all about kind of the way I looked,
and now that I'm older I just wanna enjoy life."
When singer and actress Lucy Hale tweeted one particular photo in 2017, a user took
it upon himself to inform the star:
"No straight men are signing off on that anorexic look. Please eat a hamburger."
And as you probably guessed, Hale wasn't feeling the clearly offensive message. She responded,
"As someone who used to struggle with anorexia, I don't take these comments lightly. I'm healthy
and happy and you don't know me."
Later, in a separate tweet, Hale told the trolling commenter,
"I am disgusted that a man would even think of saying these absolutely awful words to
a woman. You should be ashamed of yourself."
Despite the mean words being thrown her way, Hale's fans not only came to her defense,
but also expressed their gratitude for her bravery in standing up to the haters.
"Be kind to yourself. Because I feel like we're all pretty hard on each other and especially
ourselves."
Sarah Jessica Parker's weight has been a hot topic for decades. In 2010, one dietician
told Hollywood Life that she worried the star wasn't consuming enough calories. Regardless
of her body fat percentage, Parker recognizes that her size is not the norm. And she doesn't
want women looking to her weight as if it is. She once told Oprah,
"Actresses have this weight standard for professional reasons, but I think the standard is impossible
for women in America. My job requires me to put on a little dress and run around the streets
of New York in heels. But I also had the financial means to hire a yoga teacher to come to my
house while my sitter watched the newborn. For 95 percent of the world, that's not realistic."
"I think walking is great. Swimming. I love, in the summer, I love to kayak."
Parker also recognizes that there are likely genetics at play. While the actress admitted
to People in 2008 that she eats, quote, "everything," she also admitted that she simply has a slimmer
body type.
Big time drama ensued when "plus-size" model Crystal Renn went from a size 14 to a size
8. She explained, via ABC News,
"I think that by placing a title on my head, which is 'plus-size,' and then the picture
that these people have created in their mind about what plus-size actually is, I've basically
failed you just with that. […] At this point in my life I would have to actually have another
eating disorder to live up to that expectation."
Renn first entered the modeling industry when she was 16 years old. She struggled with anorexia
in order to fit the mold of a "traditional" model, but she still wasn't considered skinny
enough. After recovering from anorexia, she found success at a size 10 to 14. Although
she later faced criticism for becoming too thin again, Renn's agent confirmed that, at
size 8,
"Hiking and yoga are part of [Crystal's] life now. She is healthy and feels amazing right
now."
After her mother passed away from ovarian cancer in 2007, Angelina Jolie lost a noticeable
amount of weight, which garnered her some unwarranted criticism. At the time, she told
Grazia ,
"I have always been lean and this year I lost my mother and I've gone through a lot. I want
people to understand who I am as a person is not somebody that's trying to look thin,
but just trying to work through a very difficult year."
"I will never be as good a mother as she was."
"She was the most generous, loving…she's better than me."
Jolie added that she also found it, quote, "disturbing" that people wouldn't first consider
whether a person who'd suddenly lost weight was going through something traumatic.
It appears that Live with Kelly and Ryan host Kelly Ripa enjoys a good trolling sesh. In
an Instagram video where she read mean comments, the actress revealed,
"I like trolling. I love trolling a troll. It is my favorite thing to do."
After Ripa revealed one user's comment saying she wore, quote, "too much makeup," and claiming
that it made her "look like a wax figure," the good-natured host said that she actually
wears more makeup than a wax figure — and that she would know, since there's a wax figure
of her at Madame Tussauds .
But while she's totally game to stand up for herself, in 2018, her husband, Mark Consuelos
, came to his wife's defense on Instagram after several people criticized her weight.
He wrote,
"[Kelly] works extremely hard in her professional life and her commitment to exercise [and]
healthy diet is admirable and the benefits show."
Although The Real Housewives of New York star and Skinnygirl founder Bethenny Frankel has
been harshly judged for being too thin, she took the time to respond to the criticism
in a thoughtful way. She told the FORTUNE Unfiltered with Aaron Task podcast,
"I think being thin is a very, very polarizing thing. I think people get mad at you for it,
or it makes themselves feel better if they can say, 'Well, she doesn't eat and she works
out every day' — neither of which are true."
"No one really knows what someone looks like and it's not appropriate. Everyone wants to
present the marketed, perfect version of themselves…it's just not right."
Contrary to the apparent rumors, the star clarified that she does, in fact, eat food.
Frankel claims she stays away from the fat-free stuff and instead sticks to smaller portions
of the things she loves. She's also adamantly against weight-loss programs, explaining,
"The word 'diet' has the word 'die' in it, and it's a multi-billion dollar business because
diets do not work."
Despite going on to become one of the highest-paid supermodels in the world, Kendall Jenner sat
down with Harper's Bazaar Arabia in 2013 to reveal that she was currently dealing with
weight-shamers. She explained,
"I'm constantly criticized for being too skinny. I'm trying to gain weight but my body won't
let it happen. What people don't understand is that calling someone too skinny is the
same as calling someone too fat."
On her show Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian, even sister Khloe confirmed that Jenner had
actually been battling that type of criticism since she was a kid. Khloe said,
"People don't sympathize when people are body-shamed for being too thin."
"Keeping people around you that are like, awesome…"
"That just like love you for you and whatever, I think that that helps so much."
Modern Family star Sarah Hyland took to Twitter in 2017 to respond to some of the body-shaming
she'd been receiving. Simply revealing that she had been on bed rest at the time, she
wrote,
"I normally don't comment on things like this because it draws attention to those trying
to spread negativity but I'm here to explain a few things and spread love."
But by late 2018, Hyland was ready to open up about her health struggles. The actress
told Self she had received a second kidney transplant and underwent additional surgeries,
including one for endometriosis and another for an abdominal hernia — all within the
six months before the interview. Naturally, Hyland had lost weight while struggling with
her health.
"I just have very, very special people in my life and I would not have been able to
make it through without them."
Hyland now advocates for others who are also managing "invisible illnesses," posting on
Instagram in 2020,
"It’s ok to be insecure about your body. Just remember to check in with yourself at
least once a day and say thank you. […] Love yourself and be patient. We are all stronger
than we think we are."
When one person tweeted about whether he would prefer singer Ariana Grande or Modern Family
actress Ariel Winter, he said he'd choose Ariel because, quote, "curves are sexy" and
"sticks aren't." While he probably didn't imagine getting a response from either celebrity,
Grande made sure to give him a piece of her mind. The singer first condemned the remark
and then explained, via Twitter,
"We live in a day and age where people make it IMPOSSIBLE for women, men, anyone to embrace
themselves exactly how they are. […] Talking about people's [bodies] as if they're on display
ASKING for your approval [or] opinion. THEY ARE NOT!!!!"
"A lot of people can tell you a lot of different things, and to be different things, or to
sound a different way. I think that you just have to listen to what's inside, instead."
Grande called on others to start to love themselves along with celebrating the differences in
others. Fans chimed in, thanking the star, with one fan even dubbing the singer the,
quote, "queen of positivity."
While it probably comes as no surprise, Ariel Winter has also been on the receiving end
of thin-shaming. When the Modern Family star shared a series of snaps on Instagram in 2019,
comments about her size poured in. One person commented, quote, "OMG you lost your butt."
And another added, quote, "Too skinny now." Other fans took the passive-aggressive route,
with one writing,
"I'm sorry you felt the need to so dramatically change your appearance."
One fan even claimed they were only commenting to help prevent other girls from getting the
work done that they assumed Winter had. To that, the actress replied,
"I appreciate you wanting to help girls love themselves the way [they] are, but you are
also kind of cutting someone [me] down which isn't what I think you were trying to do."
Winter clarified that she had not gotten plastic surgery, and she reminded the fan that their
behavior wasn't a real way to support women.
"We only get one life and, you know, you gotta live your own, you gotta do as much as you
you can to make sure that you're feeling healthy."
In 2018, model Gigi Hadid revealed that she was once considered to be overweight for the
industry she would later dominate. She clarified on Twitter:
"For those of you so determined to come up [with] why my body has changed over the years,
you may not know that when I started [modeling at] 17 I was not yet diagnosed [with] Hashimoto's
disease."
Hadid said those who felt she was too heavy to be a model were actually seeing water retention
and inflammation — symptoms of her thyroid disease. But along with being thought of as
too big, Hadid has also been considered too thin. In a separate tweet, the model said
her health has improved since her teenage years and she's better able to manage her
condition, adding,
"I may be 'too skinny' for [you], honestly this skinny isn't what I want to be, but I
feel healthier internally."
Later, Hadid urged people to cultivate compassion toward others, writing:
"Please, as social media users & human beings in general, learn to have more empathy for
others and know that you never really know the whole story."
"It's just about everyone kind of accepting their body as it matures and knowing that
it's not always gonna look the same and you can love yourself in all different shapes
and sizes."
Singer Céline Dion's response to criticism about her weight has been pretty epic. In
2019 she told The Dan Wootton Interview that those who don't like her looks need not be
bothered. She said,
"I'm doing this for me. […] I want to feel strong, beautiful, feminine [and] fierce.
[…] If you like, I'll be there. If you don't, leave me alone."
Dion — who lost her husband, René , to cancer in 2016 — may just be starting a
new chapter in her life, and with it, a new look. But it certainly doesn't matter what
anyone else thinks. For her, and for all of us, it's about what makes you feel beautiful.
"Every woman, they have to find a way to find their inner strength."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more List videos about your favorite
celebs are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss
a single one.