Sarah Hyland on calling out body-shaming trolls: 'I'm going to say a comment right back'

Sarah Hyland has a message for the online trolls who keep criticizing her body: She’s not backing down.

The Modern Family star, who has spoken candidly about her kidney dysplasia and 2012 kidney transplant, made headlines this month when she responded to body-shaming comments that she looked too skinny at an Oscars after-party. The 27-year-old actress fired back with a middle-finger emoji and a note that she “felt amazing.”

According to a new interview with People, Hyland remains defiant about backlash over her slight frame.

“For me it’s just kind of like a natural reaction,” she said at jeweler Lorraine Schwartz’s Eye Bangles launch on March 13. “And sometimes it gets too much to where I’m like, ‘OK, I really need to make a statement right now because what is happening is not OK.’ And it happens all the time.

Sarah Hyland is speaking out against her critics. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Lorraine Schwartz)
Sarah Hyland is speaking out against her critics. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Lorraine Schwartz)

“People think that because you’re in the public eye you sign up for criticism from random people and strangers,” Hyland said. “But I’m in this business because I love the craft, and I love the art of it, and I love creating and evoking emotions. …

“I just treat [the criticism] like if someone’s going to say a comment to me, I’m going to say a comment right back as if we’re talking to my face. You’re not behind a keyboard. You’re basically talking to me.”

Trolls beware.

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