Jillian Michaels, from The Biggest Loser fame, said she regrets involving Lizzo into her discussion about healthy weight. The fitness guru has received an overwhelming backlash in response to her comments about the pop superstar.
Michaels told Buzzfeed that Lizzo might get diabetes because of her weight and that fans should celebrate her music, not her body. The fallout against Jillian Michaels has been so brutal, the fitness star posted a photo of herself when she was 175 lbs (which went viral January 17) to curry favor with the growing number of outraged Lizzo supporters, and as an inspiration to others. The photo seemed to do little to lessen the controversy. Ever since Michaels’ initial comments on Buzzfeed’s AM2DM earlier this month, Lizzo fans cried foul on a number of fronts, some calling Michaels a hypocrite for raising an African-American daughter while picking on an African-American woman about her weight. Other fans were simply shocked by Michaels’ lack of tact by publicly body-shaming such a well-known star at the height of her popularity.
Michaels then went on a mea culpa tour, stopping by E!’s Daily Pop to clarify her statements. However, instead of an apology, she doubled down on her original statement, saying, “One, love yourself no matter what 100 percent, always advocated that. Have said repeatedly for decades now that everybody should be included, valued, they’re worthy, they’re beautiful. And, only from this place, can you be healthier, physically, emotionally in your relationships, with your work.” She continued, “The second narrative is that we cannot deny the inevitable fact that being overweight leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and these things kill people.”
The Biggest Loser trainer then went on Extra (via Women’s Health) and finally apologized for her comments about Lizzo, stating: “I really regret this argument became about a person… I should have said, ‘I don’t celebrate anyone being overweight,’ and I don’t know what would I say to her. I’m a huge fan, which is exactly what I said in the interview.” Although Lizzo chose not to comment on Michael’s repeated verbal attacks, the singer was spotted on January 15 in a teeny bikini, participating in a beach photoshoot with other body-positive models. Jillian Michaels defended herself from the initial controversy by stating that she was justified to comment on Lizzo’s weight because she’s a health expert. However, Michaels is not a licensed physician, more importantly, she’s not Lizzo’s physician, so to say that someone is susceptible to diabetes strictly based on their size speaks to her amateur-hour medical knowledge.
There are many people on this planet who aren’t a size 6 or 8 or even 14 who will never have or be diagnosed with diabetes. They will never experience a cardiac event or a stroke or receive a cancer diagnosis. Meanwhile, other celebrities like Halle Berry, Nick Jonas, and Bret Michaels are all diabetic … with classic “Hollywood” physiques. Even Jillian Michaels’ own Biggest Loser costar Bob Harper suffered a heart attack in 2017, and he looked the perfect picture of health. Lizzo has branded herself as the poster child for being body positive at any size. Anyone uncomfortable with her brand should focus on their own, or simply kick back and enjoy her singing instead. If self-professed Lizzo fan Jillian Michaels had just done that, she might have avoided this mess in the first place.
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Source: Women’s Health
