Jillian Michaels Faces Backlash For Fat-Shaming Lizzo: ‘Why Are We Celebrating Her Body?’

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UPDATE (Jan. 8, 8:10pm ET): Moments after publishing our story, Jillian took to Twitter to clarify her comments. In a new statement, she said, “As I’ve stated repeatedly, we are all beautiful, worthy, and equally deserving. I also feel strongly that we love ourselves enough to acknowledge that there are serious healthy consequences that come with obesity – heart disease, diabetes, cancer to name only a few. I would never wish these for ANYONE and I would hope we prioritize our health because we LOVE ourselves and our bodies.”

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ORIGINAL STORY: Jillian Michaels, 45, surprised and angered Lizzo fans on Jan. 8 when she commented on the 31-year-old singer’s body and revealed she doesn’t think anyone should be celebrating it. The successful personal trainer shared her controversial opinion when she sat down for an interview with AM3DM by BuzzFeed News and explained that although she loves the talented artist’s songs, she doesn’t think we should care about her figure.

“Why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter? Why aren’t we celebrating her music? ‘Cause it isn’t gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes,” she boldly said in a video from the interview. The remark came after Lizzo’s name was mentioned during a discussion about self-acceptance. The fitness guru went on to explain that she doesn’t understand why anyone even cares about her body since she’s an entertainer. “I’m just being honest, I love her music,” she continued. “My kid loves her music, but there’s never a moment where I’m like, ‘And I’m so glad that she’s overweight!’ Like why do I even care? Why is it my job to care about her weight?”

Once the video of Jillian’s interview made its way on Twitter, Lizzo fans were quick to respond with a lot of backlash and even accused her of “fat shaming” the “Juice” crooner. “Jillian Michaels has a long history of fat shaming, I am so not surprised she said this,” one tweet read. “We’re celebrating Lizzo’s body because it is a beautiful body creating art. She made her fortune out of only celebrating one type of body, created through intense restriction and shame.”

“Lizzo spends hours every night singing and playing the flute during intensive dance cardio. Just admit that the only self worth you’ve found for yourself is in your thinness, Jillian, then go to therapy & do the work to love yourself,” a second fan wrote. “Shame on you, Jillian,” another user tweeted.

Lizzo spends hours every night singing and playing the flute during intensive dance cardio. Just admit that the only self worth you've found for yourself is in your thinness, Jillian, then go to therapy & do the work to love yourself.

— 🐺Mira Adama✨ (@LostWolfling) January 8, 2020

Shame on you @JillianMichaels

— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) January 8, 2020

After the backlash, Jillian took to her own social media to seemingly address the response she received with a positive message. “As I’ve stated repeatedly, we are all beautiful, worthy, and equally deserving,” it began. “I also feel strongly that we love ourselves enough to acknowledge there are serious health consequences that come with obesity-heart disease, diabetes, cancer to name only a few. I would never wish these for ANYONE and I would hope we prioritize our health because we LOVE ourselves and our bodies.”