Jillian Michaels recently came out with comments against pop singer Lizzo's weight. Appearing on Buzzfeed News' morning show, AM2DM, she is quoted saying "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." These comments instilled some serious backlash fairly quickly from Lizzo's fans and plus-size supporters.
.@JillianMichaels on Lizzo: "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." pic.twitter.com/FkKBd8J87b
— AM2DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) January 8, 2020
Jillian issued a statement shortly after, doubling down on her previous stance. "There are serious health consequences that come with obesity — heart disease, diabetes, cancer to name only a few," she stated. While Lizzo didn't directly address the statement, she did release a photo on her Instagram account with the caption "Today’s mantra is: This is my life. I have done nothing wrong. I forgive myself for thinking I was wrong in the first place. I deserve to be happy."
— Jillian Michaels (@JillianMichaels) January 9, 2020
Lizzo also urged her followers to take a minute to decompress by taking deep breaths. "Take 5 deep breaths... in through the nose... out through the mouth," she wrote to her 7.3 million followers online. Neither has spoken more about the issue since the response, but both ladies are all for female empowerment.