Jillian Michaels stands by controversial comments about Lizzo’s weight: ‘I am a health expert!’
Jillian Michaels is standing by her controversial comments about Lizzo’s weight.
The fitness pro and former The Biggest Loser trainer was back in the headlines this week for doubling down on her opinion that “glamorizing obesity” is “dangerous” — even if the person in question is body-positive singer Lizzo. And while Michaels was called “gross” for her comments and accused of body-shaming, she’s standing by her opinion.
“Here’s what I’m going to say,” she told TMZ when she was stopped on the street Thursday and asked about the Lizzo controversy. “I’m a health expert. For decades I have said repeatedly that your weight and your size have no bearing or merit on your value, your beauty, your worth, your ability. Where it does have relevance is your health. To pretend that it doesn’t is not only irresponsible, it’s dangerous — and it’s just not a lie that I’m willing to tell because it’s politically correct.”
Michaels went on to say the overall point she was trying to make in her interview with BuzzFeed News’s live Twitter show AM to DM on Wednesday was “take care of your health because you love yourself... 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... [Lizzo’s] health is her business.”
That said, Michaels went on to remind people, “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.”
And when it comes to Lizzo specifically, “I didn’t even bring her up,” she said, meaning she was asked about her by host Alex Berg.
During that BuzzFeed chat, Michaels was asked about her quotes in the January/February of Women’s Health U.K reiterating the celeb trainer’s long-shared opinion that it’s “dangerous” to “glorify obesity” because “it kills people.” When Berg said she appreciated Lizzo for “preaching self-acceptance,” Michaels didn’t.
“Why are we celebrating her body?” Michaels asked. “Why does it matter? That’s what I’m saying, Like why aren’t we celebrating her music? ‘Cause it isn’t gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes. I’m just being honest. I love her music, my kid loves her music. But there’s never a moment where I’m like, ‘I’m so glad that she’s overweight.’”
After the BuzzFeed interview, Michels clarified her comments via a statement on social media.
— Jillian Michaels (@JillianMichaels) January 9, 2020
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