Jillian Michaels Defends Her Lizzo Weight Comments Again And Says It's A Health Issue
Celebrity trainer and former "Biggest Loser" star Jillian Michaels made controversial body-shaming comments about musician Lizzo this week, which she already attempt to defend once. Now, speaking with TMZ, Michaels is yet again saying she said nothing wrong, and insists her words are out of a health concern for Lizzo.
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"I'm a health expert," she told the outlet. "For decades I have said repeatedly that your weight and your size have no baring or merit on your value, your beauty, your worth, your ability. Where it does have relevance is your health, and to pretend that it doesn't is not only irresponsible, it's dangerous, and it's just not a lie I’m willing to tell because it’s politically correct."
"My overall point is that you take care of your health because you love yourself," she continued. "That's kind of the whole point, and that we should value people based on their skills and their abilities. It should be irrelevant what size they are; that’s up to them."
"Her health is her business," Michaels added. "But again, I am a health expert, people come to me, they ask me about health information. Obesity is the number one contributor to diabetes, heart disease, cancer. I wish that on absolutely no one."
Michaels' original comments that sparked the debate occurred on a Buzzfeed show on Wednesday morning.
"Why are we celebrating her body?" Michaels asked. "Why does it matter? Why aren't we celebrating her music? 'Cause it isn't gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes. I love her music," Michaels continued. "My kid loves her music, but there's never a moment where I'm like 'I'm so glad she's overweight!' Why do we care? Why is it my job to care about her weight?"
On Thursday, Michaels addressed her comments for the first time, writing on Twitter, "As I've stated repeatedly, we are all beautiful, worthy and equally deserving. 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."
