In case you haven't noticed, no two people look exactly the same (not even identical twins are 100 percent identical). So why is it that people feel they have the right to shame someone else about her body? In a world of digital everything, it's easy for people to bully others, hiding behind a screen. And because they're constantly in the public eye, celebrities are often the target—but many of them used their experience of being body shamed as an opportunity to speak out against the haters. Click through to see what your favorite stars had to say.
Lili Reinhart
The internet began to speculate on whether or not Reinhart was pregnant after a photo of her and boyfriend Cole Sprouse circulated over the weekend. Reinhart doesn't need to explain herself to anybody, but she decided to post an inspiring response on Instagram, shutting down body shamers who had commented on the "unflattering photo."
"It’s unfortunate that one unflattering photo of my stomach circulating the internet causes hundreds of people to think that I’m pregnant,” she wrote on her Instagram stories. “Nope. Not pregnant.”
She continues, “My body is something that I will NEVER apologize for. My body will constantly go through change. And so will yours. And that’s fine. So let’s not put so much time and effort into caring about a stranger’s figure.” 👏
Selena Gomez
Remember when one Instagram user tried to hate on Selena’s scars from her kidney transplant? Well, she wasn’t here for it and posted a response to the hater on Instagram.
"The beauty myth: an obsession with physical perfection that traps [the] modern woman in an endless cycle of hopelessness, self consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society’s impossible definition of flawless beauty," she wrote in her caption. "I chose to take care of myself because I want to, not to prove anything to anyone. Wind in her sails."
Gigi Hadid
Body shamers called the 23-year-old model “too skinny” during Fashion Week this year. But Hadid hadn't lost weight for her job, she's been struggling with a disease that causes her weight to fluctuate. She punched back at the shamers who don’t understand what she’s going through with a message on social media: "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 @ 17 I was not yet diagnosed w/Hashimoto’s disease; those of u who called me 'too big for the industry' were seeing inflammation & water retention due to that," she wrote.
“Over the last few years I’ve been properly medicated to help symptoms including those, as well as extreme fatigue, metabolism issues, body’s ability to retain heat, etc...I was also part of a holistic medical trial that helped my thyroid levels balance out.”
Serena Williams
The tennis champion (and a royal wedding attendee) was body shamed after Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, shared a picture of the two of them on Twitter. One user commented that Williams was “built like a man.” Rowling clapped back by posting a photo of Williams in a gorgeous red dress with the caption, “Yeah, my husband looks just like this in a dress. You're an idiot.”
Kim Kardashian
After giving birth to her and Kanye West’s first child, North West, Kim Kardashian was slammed by tabloids for the amount of weight she’d gained during her pregnancy. In response to the body shamers, she tweeted, "Anyone who has had a baby knows how hard it is to lose weight...your body totally changes! Making fun of me pregnant and making fun of me trying to lose weight now, shame on you. I'm not perfect but I will never conform to your skinny standards sorry!"
Emma Stone
Emma Stone has had trolls go after her for looking too skinny (no that they're doctors or anything). In an interview with USA Today, the star said, "I firmly believe that nothing really affects you or can really bother you if you don't already feel that way about yourself. I've seen a lot of comments that say, 'Eat a sandwich' or 'She looks sick.' I've been looking at myself in the mirror being mean to myself. I'm not sick. I eat sandwiches....In no way is it my intention to be a bad example."
Gabourey Sidibe
After people made hateful comments about her appearance at the 2014 Golden Globes, Gabourey Sidibe saracastically tweeted, "To people making mean comments about my GG pics, I [most definitely] cried about it on that private jet on my way to my dream job last night. #JK.” Who’s laughing now?
Ashley Graham
The Sports Illustrated model is a poster child of the body positivity movement. On Instagram, she recalled a time that someone once called her thighs “cellulite city,” to which she shot back: "But I now realize these thighs tell a story of victory and courage." Graham has since released a line of size-inclusive swimwear with Swimsuits for All, and continues to push for the normalization of all body types.
Tyra Banks
When a tabloid published a photo of Tyra Banks in a swimsuit, criticizing the shape of her body, the supermodel clapped back. On her TV show, she made a huge speech about how people who shame her or other women like her can “kiss [her] ass.”
Amy Schumer
The I Feel Pretty actress isn’t ashamed of her body, and she’s definitely not afraid to tell the haters to back off. On Twitter, she shared a photo of herself wearing a nude bodysuit, and said, “I am a size 6 and have no plans of changing. This is it. Stay on or get off. Kisses!"
Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato often celebrates her "thick thighs," and the rest of her body of social media. "If somebody calls me fat, even in a vulnerable moment, I laugh to myself and think, I’m doing everything I can, so there’s nothing I can do about it," she said in an interview with Glamour in 2016. "I don’t have a six-pack. Maybe I don’t even want a six-pack. It doesn’t sound very appealing."
Jennifer Lawrence
The Hunger Games star has always been honest and true to herself. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, the actress recalled a time someone told her to lose a couple of pounds, “If anybody even tries to whisper the word 'diet,' I'm like, 'You can go fuck yourself.'”
Lady Gaga
After she performed the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in 2017, Lady Gaga received backlash over her weight. In response, she posted a photo on Instagram with a message for everyone surrounding the controversy, captioning the photo: “I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I’m proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too.”
The singer continued: “No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don’t need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That’s the stuff of champions.”
Jennifer Aniston
People have speculated about whether or not the former Friends star is pregnant one too many times. In 2016, she penned a powerful essay in The Huffington Post (since she’s not on social media) to set the record straight. “For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up. I’m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of ‘journalism,’ the ‘First Amendment’ and ‘celebrity news,’” she wrote.
Kristen Bell
For whatever reason, people love to hate on women’s bodies post-pregnancy, and Kristen Bell was also victim of it. "I am not a woman whose self-worth comes from her dress size...Comparison is one long, agonizing death and does not interest me at all,” she said in response to the haters.
Ruby Rose
It’s sad to think that anyone has to be afraid to post a photo on social media for fear of being shamed about their body type. But that's exactly what happened to Rose. After posting a photo, the shamers told her she was "too skinny "and "needed to eat a burger." The Orange is the New Black star wrote a response on her Instagram stories, “Body shaming SHITS me. 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.”
Beyoncé
Who could possibly shame Queen Bey? After her Super Bowl 50 halftime performance, the trolls took to Twitter to hate on her weight. But Beyoncé has dealt with the haters before in her song, “Bootylicious.”
In an interview with Shape magazine, she said, “I wrote that because, at the time, I’d gained some weight and the pressure that people put you under, the pressure to be thin, is unbelievable. I was just 18 and you shouldn’t be thinking about that. You should be thinking about building up your character and having fun, and the song was just telling everyone to forget what people are saying, you’re bootylicious. It’s a celebration of curves and a celebration of women’s bodies."
Chloë Grace Moretz
When she was only 15 years old, her male co-star—who was playing her love interest in a movie—told her he would never date her in real life because she was too big. She recalled that moment in a 2017 interview with Variety, saying that it “makes you realize that there are some really bad people out there, and for some reason, he felt the need to say that to me. You have to kind of forgive and not forget, really, but it was just like, wow. It was jarring.”
Hillary Duff
The former Lizzie McGuire star took full control before anyone could body shame her. She shared a powerful message for all women on Instagram, posting a picture of herself in a swimsuit on vacation, with the caption, “Since websites and magazines love to share ‘celeb flaws’—well I have them!”
She continued, “I’m turning 30 in September and my body is healthy and gets me where I need to go. Ladies, let’s be proud of what we’ve got and stop wasting precious time in the day wishing we were different, better, and unflawed. You guys (you know who you are!) already know how to ruin a good time, and now you are body-shamers as well. #kissmyass.”
Khloé Kardashian
People have consistently critiqued the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star's weight—going from saying she’s too fat to months later saying she’s too skinny. In 2016, she tweeted a response, “I need to remember the date today!! Never would I have ever thought I would be in the media for being ‘too skinny.’ What on earth?!?!…First I’m too fat and now I’m too skinny. I love this game!!”
Sasha Pieterse
Trolls came after the Pretty Little Liars star when they noticed she’d gained a little bit of weight. In response, Pieterse posted a graphic on Instagram that read, "I am currently under construction...thank you for your patience."
In the caption of the post, she continued, "For those of you who are struggling with any health problem, hormone imbalance, and weight gain of any sort, I urge and encourage you to please deal with it in a healthy manor [sic]. You and your health are what matters, not anyone else's opinions and assumptions of you. Getting healthy isn't just about working out and eating right (however extremely important) it's also about surrounding yourself with those who care about you and want to see you succeed and become the best you can be."
Jennifer Lopez
At the beginning of her career, Jennifer Lopez said she was told she needed to lose weight. "They kept telling me to lose weight," Lopez told E! "And I was a dancer and I was athletic and even my manager at the time, who I no longer work with, um, was telling me, 'You need to lose weight. You need to be thinner.'"
And she had the best response: "I was like, 'No I don't. If I lose any more weight it won't be me.' You know what I mean?”
Kelly Clarkson
In 2015, British TV personality Katie Hopkins tweeted about Kelly Clarkson, saying "Did she eat all of her backing singers? Happily I have wide-screen." The singer didn’t care for Hopkins’ words and tweeted a response: "Oh, she's tweeted something nasty about me? That's because she doesn't know me. I'm awesome! It doesn't bother me. It's a free world. Say what you will."
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson was the target of yet another body shamer pointing out a weight change during pregnancy. “I never listen to it, no matter who the press talks about when they’re pregnant. It’s ridiculous and unfair,” she said in an interview with Redbook magazine.
“I think any woman who is pregnant and creating a life is pretty much entitled to eat whatever she wants as long as she’s healthy. I wasn’t going to let the media take away from what was one of the happiest times in my life.”
Kim Kardashian
The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star has regularly been a subject of body shamers—but it doesn’t affect the way she see’s herself. In March 2016, she penned a post on her website to tackle the issue. “I am empowered by my body. I am empowered by my sexuality. I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin,” she wrote on her website.
“I am empowered by showing the world my flaws and not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about me… The body-shaming and slut-shaming—it’s like, enough is enough.”
Alicia Machado
In 1996, Alicia Machado was crowned Miss Universe, but later haters said she was fat, including our current president (also the pageant’s owner), Donald Trump, who referred to her as “Miss Piggy.” “No matter what, no matter who tells you that you don’t look good, that is only outside,” Machado said in an interview with The Guardian. “I’m a strong woman.”
Alyssa Milano
In 2013, comedian Jay Mohr joked about Alyssa Milano’s weight after she'd given birth—and she couldn't stand by without saying something. In response, she tweeted, “@jaymohr37 So sorry you felt the need to publicly fat-shame me. Be well and God Bless. Please send my love to your beautiful wife.”
Actress Olivia Munn then chimed in, coming to Milano’s defense, tweeting, “You are gorgeous @Alyssa_Milano & ur baby is ridiculously cute. In other news @jaymohr37 looks like a foot.” Mohr got the message, and reportedly later apologized to Milano.
Melissa McCarthy
The former Gilmore Girls star has experienced repeated fat shaming throughout her career. So when a critic from the New York Observer called her “tractor-sized” in a review of the movie Identity Thief, she responded by saying, "I felt really bad for someone who is swimming in so much hate. I just thought, that's someone who's in a really bad spot, and I am in such a happy spot. I laugh my head off every day with my husband and my kids who are mooning me and singing me songs."
Lena Dunham
After Refinery29 posted what was meant to be a positive article about Lena Dunham’s weight loss, the Girls actress responded on Instagram. “I feel I’ve made it pretty clear over the years that I don’t give even the tiniest of shits what anyone else feels about my body. I’ve gone on red carpets in couture as a size 14. I’ve done sex scenes days after surgery, mottled with scars. I’ve accepted that my body is an ever changing organism, not a fixed entity—what goes up must come down and vice versa. I smile just as wide no matter my current size because I’m proud of what this body has seen and done and represented. Chronic illness sufferer."
She continued, "Body-shaming vigilante. Sexual assault survivor. Raging hottie. Just like all of YOU. Right now I’m struggling to control my endometriosis through a healthy diet and exercise. So my weight loss isn’t a triumph and it also isn’t some sign I’ve finally given in to the voices of trolls. Because my body belongs to ME—at every phase, in every iteration, and whatever I’m doing with it, I’m not handing in my feminist card to anyone.”
Kate Winslet
During WE Day U.K., the Titanic star opened up about being fat-shamed while auditioning for roles. “[Casting agents] would say, ‘You’re just not what we’re looking for Kate.’ I’d hear that a lot…I didn’t lock myself away and give up on my dream. I fought back,” she said to the crowd.
“I had to ignore the negative comments. I had to believe in myself. I had to choose to rise above it all, and I had to work hard. You have to be indestructible to do what you love, and believe that you are worth it. And sometimes that’s the hardest part…You are being your best and you own that. Nobody can take that away from you ever.”
