Jillian Michaels Doubles Down Amid Backlash Over Her Comments About Lizzo’s Body

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Former “Biggest Loser” trainer Jillian Michaels has heard your criticism over her comments about Lizzo’s body, and she just doesn’t care.

The fitness expert doubled down on her original statements made on Buzzfeed’s “AM to DM” show where she asked, “Why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter? Why aren’t we celebrating her music? ‘Cause it isn’t going to be awesome if she gets diabetes.”

Fans criticized Michaels, saying she was body-shaming the “Truth Hurts” singer, and slammed her for suggesting Lizzo might be at risk for diabetes without knowing anything about her current health status.

In an attempt to clarify her earlier statements, while staying true to her original message, Michaels dropped a tweet Wednesday afternoon that did little to appease the masses.

“As I’ve stated repeatedly, we are all beautiful, worthy, and equally deserving,” Michaels wrote. “I also feel strongly that we love ourselves enough to acknowledge there are serious health consequences that come with obesity.”

She called for people to “prioritize” their health because they love their bodies and themselves. It’s a tough line to draw in this era of body positivity, but Michaels is coming from the place of a fitness trainer who’s spent her life working with obese people who are suffering health problems related to their weight. And she firmly believes in a correlation between the two.

As expected, the apology went over about as well as her original comments. Granted, she had some supporters in her corner, but most just continued accusing her of body-shaming.

“Equating fat with automatically being unhealthy & slim with being healthy is inaccurate & incredibly dangerous,” commented user @JRYussuf. “Fat people deserve to exist without the pressure to change their size or health. Fat people don’t need to desire to change their bodies to be deserving of dignity.”

On the other hand, @MightyMykell had Michaels back, writing, “I dont think your tone toward Lizzo was judgmental, It was honest. Even if she is healthy at her size, most aren’t and we shouldn’t promote unhealthy lifestyles. In this case, sizes.”

The bottom line is that there is no way to discuss weight without provoking outrage somewhere. Some people firmly believe that obesity leads to health complications, thus it should not be applauded in any capacity. Others believe that people should simply embrace the body they’re in and practice self-love, rather than shaming and that it is possible to be healthy or unhealthy at any size.

There is no totally right answer, and Michaels was probably going to lose the moment she stepped into the conversation. Had she applauded Lizzo for embracing her size and expressing herself with confidence as a woman, she would have faced criticism for supporting someone who is overweight without acknowledging possible health risk factors.

“I’m just being honest. I love her music, my kid loves her music, but there’s never a moment when I’m like, ‘I’m so glad she’s overweight,'” Michaels said on “AM to DM.” “Why do I even care? Why is it my job to care about her weight?”

Really what Michaels was trying to was figure out was why there is this huge conversation about Lizzo’s body that often sounds way louder than any conversations about her talent and music. That answer is simple enough: because in a society that objectifies women at unhealthy thin weights, people are thrilled to have someone like Lizzo out there working it and owning it just as she is.

Following are just some of the reactions to Jillian’s attempt to apologize … or at least clarify her initial comments.

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