I know some of you are like “WHO?” when I mention Fiona Apple in the links, but I’ve loved Fiona for more than a decade now. Her debut album (Tidal) still holds up, and her second and third albums (When the Pawn and Extraordinary Machine) are still wonderful to me, and I’m still discovering nuances and different emotions with all of her songs. I bought her new album (The Idler Wheel) but I haven’t put the CD in my car yet (I need to prepare myself for it). So… just be gentle with Fiona. She’s weird and brilliant and weird. And I love her.
Anyway, these are photos of Fiona performing in Miami Beach last night, as part of her “Every Single Night” tour. This is the same tour that she was on when she was arrested for possession of hashish/weed a few weeks ago in Texas. Shortly after her arrest, Fiona spoke about her arrest while she was on stage – you can see the video here. I’m not going to harp on and on about it because… well, I don’t really care. She was arrested for possession in Texas, for goodness sake. Practically everyone is arrested for possession in Texas. It’s no biggie. The thing that bothers me is that post-arrest, everyone is now getting up in Fiona’s business, and Radar and other outlets are like, “OMG, she’s so weird and she has an eating disorder.” Ugh.
Speaking of, we also got a tip from a loyal reader who says that she was at Fiona’s concert in Clearwater, Florida… which must have been two nights ago, I guess, before this Miami concert. According to this tip:
Fiona filmed a video at the beginning of the show in which she directly addressed Perez Hilton (because he puts his name on his stories, “unlike TMZ”) via an audience member’s camera for a good fifteen minutes or so. She talked about how hurt and angered she’d been by reading celebrity gossip stories about herself, and insisted that she doesn’t look 90 years old and that ‘those’ (weed and hash, presumably) are the only drugs she does.
She went on to explain her weight loss, strange comments, and reaction to her arrest, and then she delivered literally the performance of a lifetime, hitting every note and joining passionately in with her amazing band. I’m obviously a fan, so I’m biased, but I’ve seen her before and this was by far her best concert to my knowledge. If any of the stories are true, none of it has affected her voice or her intensely enthusiastic stage persona. Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see if the video turns up in the next gossip cycle, but she won’t know, because she told the crowd she gave her computer to someone else last night and stopped reading all the gossip comments.
[Via Commenter tip]
Well, I went looking for the video, and I think I found it, maybe:
Fiona has always been criticized for her size, for her extreme slimness. I don’t know if she has an eating disorder, or if she did and she doesn’t anymore. I don’t know. She’s always been really skinny. I would love to see her gain about 20 pounds, but whatever. I’m not going to harp on and on about it. I do think she should forget the bangs, for what it’s worth. They’re adding to her gaunt appearance.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Some people are naturally that thin, the most important thing is the health, if she’s health that’s ok.
She has been open about having an eating disorder in the past. It is probably not ‘natural’, but people recovering from eating disorders usually remain a weight considered slimmer than most (even if its not necessarily body type)
Ditto, I was here to say the same.
I love her and believe she is healthy and caring for herself much more these days, and for all it’s worth I love her music a great deal, as I’m sure anyone who listens to her songs does.
She is just an amazing artist, and though I’m not much a supporter of recreational use of “light drugs”, I say she should get a perpetual pass on any sort of illegal behaviour just for the fact that she is a musical Goddess in human form.
There, end of gushing.
I love love love Fiona and yes, from what I remember she has discussed her past issues with eating disorders from back when Tidal came out. I remember everyone going on about how tiny she was in the criminal video. Which of course, she was absurdly tiny, but what I remember most about her comments back then is that she was kind of pissed off that everyone seemed to be suggesting it was an issue of vanity and to fit into the sort of ‘heroine chic’ style back then. But she openly discussed how she was pretty brutally raped as a young teen and thus she refused to eat to keep from developing the womanly curves she associated with the assailants desires. It’s all pretty heart breaking.
I don’t know how recovered she is/was or whether any of her eating issues have returned, but the woman is a genius who as lived some massively painful experiences and I wish people would leave her be about her body and appearance.
I have always been a huge fan of hers and it hurts to see how an arrest is what it takes for people to mention her name. She is the female version of Maynard from Tool IMO. She has power in that tiny frame of hers! I will always support her!
She has an amazing voice but she does look gaunt.
Back when Tidal was released she did mention that she had some food obsessions, something about not being able to eat foods of a certain colour? And she was accused of promoting eating disorder with her Criminal video (for appearing in her underwear and looking so thin)
our society and we/women puts a large emphasis on appearance and diet s it seems natural that the subject would come up in a conversational human interest interview with any star/personality, much less a thin one. shes been thin forever, and looks gorgeous. she has that ingenue quality that compliments her work so well and contradicts the strength of her voice.
and honestly, im obsessing about sausage biscuts right now- alot, quite frankly- so there you go.
I was going to say that I remember her talking about disordered eating back – like only eating blue food – too.
I’ve grown up with Fiona – Tidal in early high school, When the Pawn in college, downloaded bootleg Extraordinary Machine (prior to the over produced version eventually released) and now The Idler Wheel. She is amazing – lyrically she blows me away every time I listen to anyone of her albums. Love her.
In the fourth pic, her face looks far from gorgeous, imo. She looks deathy ill. Her face is nothing but bulging eyes and veins.
She doesn’t look healthy, that’s for sure.
When I was in middle school her videos made me feel like the fattest thing on the planet. Remember Criminal? I thought that was hot. It’s not on her, though. It was my own confusion about different body types. I don’t envy her thinness anymore but I wouldn’t criticize her for it. It does seem to be her natural size, she’s just very tiny.
sounds a bit dina too me
Whatever at least she’s actually talented unlike that red-lipped twit.
You said it 🙂
There was always a debate among fans regarding the song Paper Bag. They claimed the lyrics were proof of her eating disorder but I have to admit that I think they were reading too much into it. As an avid Fiona fan it is in my opinion that she’s on more than just weed. She has a history of it.
Someone upthread also mentioned her food obsession. Food obsession, and sometimes substance abuse, can be symptoms of an ED. Some may use laxatives, others cocaine, adderall, appetite suppressants etc.
Some also use diuretics.
I always took Paper Bag to be figurative.
I love her music, but she does look awful. I know she admitted to being anorexic when she was in her teens, and it appears she still has issues with food.
That’s not the Fiona I remember when I was a teenager. I was a big fan of her music when I was younger I loved her sound and I swear she was a bit bigger then ( clearly still super skinny but not this skinny ) I don’t know if it’s the weight but she’s not aging well , and she’s only 35.
When she first appeared on the music scene, she was so mature musically for her age, so sexy, and so talented she blew me away. She epitomized coolness and was different than all the rest. She was on the thin side, but looked healthier than she does now. I saw her on, I think it was Jimmy Fallon, recently, and she has mellowed out in a lovely way, and seems like a wonderful person and has let go of her anger she had when she was very young.
Fiona, I still love you and you should just gain a few lbs and go back to your old hairdo. The dark color and the layering on this do, including the bangs, make you look so different that I don’t recognize you.
Inside is a fantastic person – I should be so lucky to have anywhere near the talent this lady has in her pinkie.
I see it more in her face if anything. She does look a little underfed, but I love Fiona and I am jammin to her music in my office as I type this!
I was there last night! Concert was great, with a good mix of Tidal, When the Pawn and the newer ones. Her voice was incredibly powerful and on point. Skinny girl can bring it! Only bad thing, she didn’t sing Criminal.
I’m trying to remember, but she’s always been that size. I think her cheeks thinned out as she got older and it adds to the gaunt apperance?
I’m a fan, will always be a fan and I think she’s lovely..
I don’t think she’s always been that thin. She is skin and bones now… she looks unhealthy.
I agree, though… she is spectacularly talented.
Love her. She can be as weird and as skinny as she wants.
I love Fiona too (and can’t imagine someone saying WHO? in response to hearing her name!!!) and while she’s always been thin, she does look slightly unhealthy in these pics. But she’s just always been thin. Maybe it’s just that as she’s getting older her skinnyness doesn’t look as ‘good’ on her? Isn’t there a saying about when you get to a certain age you have to choose between your face or your butt looking good but you can’t have both? I don’t know, I love her music, so I’m with you, I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt.
I would think it is more a case of someone who has had an eating disorder (or unhealthy eating habits to the point of malnutrition) and/or a drug habit for so many years that it is bound to accelerate the aging process. U can only abuse ur body for so long before the cumulative effects are permanent.
Telling someone they need to gain 20 lbs is just as insulting as telling someone they need to lose 20 lbs if they are naturally that skinny. I don’t know whether Fiona is or not, but as a naturally very thin girl I’m sick of the double standard. As long as she’s healthy who cares?
Thank you for that.
I completely agree with you but most people on this site don’t see it that way. For them it’s ok to tell someone to gain weight becaue they don’t like how someone looks, but its not ok to tell someone to lose weight.
Amen. Especially because she was rumored to have an eating disorder, it’s not nice to try to dictate someone else’s choices.
Random blog posts never get the kind of care that I devote to submissions that bear my name.
We’re too scared of our own shadows to judge a book by its contents, so we deflect, take care to aggressively miss a point and don’t bother adding anything edifying for fear of having to defend a point built on little else but the misapprehension that being contrary is the same thing as having an actual position. That kind of vanity quickly disarms, but its hollowness and transparency are easily recognizable. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, I see no reason to start talking about the weather as a means of deliberately changing the conversation completely.
COMMENT PLACED IN WRONG THREAD, APOLOGIES.
Once again, this double standard that people say exists does not exist. It isn’t any more helpful to appropriate someone else’s story and posit one’s own narrative upon it in order to prove how victimized you are. The fact that someone deems it necessary to drag overweight people into the discussion in order to chide people for not criticizing the ‘right’ group–the group who is ‘supposed’ to get that criticism pretty clearly indicates that the chubby sisterhood isn’t as sacrosanct as we’re being told. You have a problem with discussing and judging weight, don’t *you* engage in that same sport in order to prove your benevolence because it’s not effective and just highlights a person’s own biases rather than raise the standard for the ‘persecuted’.
Fiona Apple isn’t being held up as the face of a movement or the sad result of man’s inhumanity towards man on a corporeal front. Fiona Apple is Fiona Apple and Fiona Apple the individual has absolutely had a long struggle with disordered eating, so when people who know her history see her wasting away, it isn’t unreasonable for people to wonder–truly wonder, not ‘concern troll–when they see her looking thinner than she was during those periods when her difficulties were at their most acute. And while no one knows what the state of her health is today, the people discussing her current weight aren’t extrapolating the discussion into an all-out crusade for the integrity of thinness (and those who live with it–that maligned and only maligned group) which is in grave danger of being trampled underfoot by vengeful fatties who managed to single-handedly flip the entire society’s views on beauty and the power imbued by its presence to make themselves feel better about being repulsive. It’s not happening.
I don’t know what’s going through her head, but I have followed her career since the mid-’90s and I’m not going to venture a guess as to why, but I’m certainly not able to ignore the fact that something has really, really changed about her since her last, last two–albums.
Take a look at her during her Extraordinary Machine days (which is generally acknowledged as the point when she looked healthiest and at her most disarmingly beautiful) and try not to diagnose, but try to ignore–you can’t.
Anyway, people are talking about a woman here, not an agenda. There’s not reason to make accusations of such and certainly no reason to bring up our own agendas.
Jo Mama you are so damn smart. You say what I want to and cannot put into words.
Fiona Apple is crazy talented.
Awesome post Jo Mama, so beautifully said.
@jo mama, Marry me?
+ 100.
I could not follow what you were saying. You used many big words but you did not use them effectively because your message was lost. You appear to have contradicted yourself a couple of times and I still can’t glean your thesis.
If she would gain 10-20 lbs it would take care of both problems. Her face and chest look sickly.
I also adore Ms. Apple. I think she’s an unbelievable talent, albeit a crazy one. She was anorexic as a teenager because she was raped. She’s spoken about it publicly. Her justification is that she wasn’t be ensure that any future attackers could find nothing to be attracted to, and even less to grab a hold of. It’s sad as all hell, right?
And if you’re looking for further evidence of some sort of insane genius, just watch her video from “Every Single Night;” it’s filled with it.
I remember reading a Rolling Stone article back in 1997/98 where she pretty much admitted she has control issues and would only eat an apple a day. It wasn’t that she was skinny that made me think she had an eating disorder, it was her comment in that article.
Her voice is so beautiful and haunting, I honestly couldn’t care less about her appearance, but I worry about her health.
Take care of yourself, Fiona! Your music is amazing.
Yall need to leave fiona alone. Shes always looked like that. Free fiona.
Her voice and songwriting is sublime.
If I had a dime for every time I’ve listened to Fiona Apple, I could buy Johnny Depp’s private island Then, I would sit on the sand and listen to Fiona some more.
I love love love her. Remember the music video she did with Zach Galifiniakis? That was the most delightful thing.
**Galifianakis.
Not About Love. One of my favorite songs of hers.
LOVE HER. She’s a musical genius, for sure. Would love to see her gain a few pounds.
I love her. The Idler Wheel stays in rotation. I think its her best CD yet. Very personal and very good.
I love her music too, incredibly talented, but she has to stop picking scabs off the emotional injuries she’s experienced. Sure it’s fodder for her songs but one can become a bit too obsessed with hurt and pain until it makes you a bit crazy and manifests itself in things like eating disorders and drug use.
That’s very true and a good rule of thumb for anyone’s life.
Maybe she was sick that night? Or has been going through something that is intensely stressful? (Like getting busted in good ole Texas). Why does the media want to perpetuate stories that because a celebrity looks drawn or not on top of the world, they have some dire eating disorder? I was raped in college,and years later even after therapy,I am still not over it. Maybe she isn’t either. She is so talented, what the hell does it matter what she LOOKS like?
I’m so sorry to hear that. I was molested as a child and went on to develop an eating disorder. I feel very strongly that the two are linked. Certain people become hypersexual, some develop EDs etc. I can’t speak for everyone here, but I’m primarily concerned about her emotional health/well being; and her physical appearance, coupled with her past admission of an eating disorder, and sexual assault tell me she’s not in a good place. As for you, I don’t think anyone truly gets over such a traumatic experience, but I hope you are able to make emotional progress. Be well.
Wow. I’m so sorry that people did to you, guys. I hope you’re thriving and happy these days.
The “diagnoses” are especially depressing because she literally says in the video above that she’s had problems digesting food because of how much stress she’s been under. Duh, maybe that’s why she had to smoke the weed in the first place… (not “duh” to you, but to the stupidity of the people whose actions & opinions affect her).
I’m the kind of person who drops 25 pounds when they’re either especially productive or especially depressed, and I hear similar things from concern-troll friends. For me, nausea and lack of appetite are normal physical responses to stress, and they’re out of my control, so I just have to remind myself to eat not just every meal, but to eat daily at all.
@brittney, I’m confused as to whether you are calling me concern troll-y? :
Any-who, I’m not playing armchair psychiatrist and I wasn’t the one to “diagnose” her, I merely repeated the FACT that she claimed to have an ED. At the moment it appears as though she isn’t managing her ED. I, as someone who suffers from an ED, know that look all too well. Perhaps it is difficult for you to recognize as such because you haven’t experienced it yourself. I, however, have and I recognize the signs, symptoms and excuses (one of which is issues with digestion).
Watch out.. Karen Carpenter?
Ha! She could duet with her if K were still alive. We’ve only just begun…
I saw her in concert in 1996 when she opened for Counting crows. She’s lost some of the baby fat (she was 19 then?) but still pretty much looks the same weight wise to me.
Her eye bulge looks meth-y.
She’s always had bulgy eyes!
Love her!
I do believe she has/had an eating disorder. Hard thing to get “cured” of. Proud of her for coming back into the spot light bc she is so talanted.
I wonder if people would be talking about her weight if she hadn’t gotten arrested?…….
Oh Fiona. Manic pixie dream girl all grown up. She has an amazing voice, but has always had way too many inner demons for her own good. I love her music but she’s INTENSE – I suspect prolonged drug use, eating disorder and some sort of bipolar disorder.
I love Fiona’s music, Tidal is one of my fave albums ever, but she looks like hell. I saw her in concert back in 2006, front row, and she looked like the old Fiona back then. She was, however, CRAZY. She was talking to herself when the band would play solo, and at one point she went and crouched on the ground at the back of the stage behind the drummer, and she sat there and mumbled to herself and basically just acted batshit insane. It was highly entertaining, to say the least, but also really weird!
I love love love her, and if she wants to be insane and skinny, good for her–just please Fiona, never stop making music!
I can’t help but seriously lol at the header though.
I love her so much and I wish I could see her live. A lot of people have been talking about how gaunt and frail she looks in person. She’s always been thin, but around the Extraordinary Machine era she had put on some weight and looked really healthy and beautiful. I hope she’s okay.
Love her. She and Tori Amos will always have a special place in my 90’s kid heart
As much as I dislike her, the minute I hear someone being attacked for being too thin, I think of jealousy. She just hasn’t “prettied up,” which makes her look a little scraggly.
She’s ALWAYS been thin! Unfortunately, as you age, being skinny doesn’t work in your favor all the time.
I adore Fiona. I was always SO jealous of her amazing eyes.
That said, She really looks terrible…Her face is gaunt & tight, but what I noticed first was her arns… They’re so skinny you can see the ‘sinew/tendons’ around the muscles stickig out. I just don’t see any fat on her body at all (I mean the healthy kind).
I wont ever try to diagnose someone, but things I remember about eating disorders is that not eating enough (or at all) will send your body into panic mode & it’ll start eating whatever it can, like fat & muscles…I can see this happening wwith Fiona, possibly.
I saw Fiona Apple once not too long ago, I would say a year maybe. She was riding her bike with a male friend in Venice. My daughter and I were on Abbott Kinney which is this one street in Venice with a lot of stores and eateries. My daughter and I were petting a dog that was outside a restaurant and she stopped to look at the dog and I said “you’re Fiona Apple”. Don’t judge me I usually do not say anything to stars I see and there are a lot in Los Angels, but I love Fiona. The startling thing is her eyes, they are beautiful and so big, her hair looked much different than in these pictures, it was kind of ash blond and long and kind of curly and frizzy but it suited her, she’s very nice and low key, very sweet and very tiny.
It’s really sad that it doesn’t matter how talented a woman is; the conversation will always boil down to her appearance.
So true and so sad. But is this really a surprise, considering the superficiality of the world we live in? In essence, men are valued for their money and women are valued for their looks.
Excellent, excellent point.
Exactly. Even — or maybe especially — when the topic of conversation is that artist’s public acknowledgment of the emotional suffering caused by those anonymous online comments.
She has some fierce muscle definition and amazing energy for someone who’s apparently “sickly” skinny, anyway; I was there, three feet away, and she was a strong, feisty, but tiny little thing, just like she always has been. But what made her mesmerizing was her voice and her performance, and I don’t understand why that can’t be enough.
Well it is a gossip sight. And like 90% of the comments talk about how amazing she is.
I’m not sure what is so superficial about noticing that someone looks deathly ill? Take a good look at that fourth pic! If I had a daugher I would never want her to think that Fiona, as she looks now, is a healthy role model. I, too, am naturally thin, but the difference between healthy thin and sickly thin should be pretty obvious to those who don’t dismiss all thin girls has having an eating disorder.
As for her energy, it doesn’t mean she is healthy. It could be the result of a couple of Red Bulls, drugs, and/or a manic phase of bipolar disorder. It doesn’t mean she is healthy. Girls with anorexia can exerise non stop for hours.
Yes, she is amazing talented, but so was Amy Winehouse. It doesn’t mean we should ignore the signs of someone who obviously needs help.
She looks old because she is too thin. Look at victoria beckham, same deal. She could stand to gain atleast 20 lbs. That is a classic sign of anorexia. I should know, I had it throughout high school. I hope she gets well soon because she is not being kind to her heart or the rest of her body/organs.
Very talented. And very ill. 🙁
Kaiser, so awesome to hear you are a fan of Fiona. I’m a huge fan! I think Fiona shows more intelligence in a single song then most artists demonstrate in an entire career. I still can’t listen to Extraordinary Machine without being blown away by how incredibly unique she truly is. I honestly can’t speak highly enough about her skills. I hope to get to see her live one day — I’m bummed that it hasn’t happened yet.
As for her current appearance, I don’t necessarily buy into the whole “sick” thing. To me, she looks like several woman I’ve known that get into a sort of vegan lifestyle, with tons of exercise and meditation, and so on. The look can be extreme, a bit too much muscle, and zero fat, but that doesn’t equate into an illness. Personally I think she would look a bit better with a few more pounds, but people that get into that whole constant, daily exercise routine seem to feel good about it, and who am I to criticize with my growing waistline and a doctor that tells me my cholesterol is too high? 🙂
Anyway, I adore Fiona, and however she looks is o.k. by me, just as long as she manages to keep making music. Hopefully it won’t be years and years before her next work comes out.
She has always been skinny but this? I don’t know, she just doesn’t look healthy to me. I saw a photo of her in a magazine this past summer (which one I don’t know) and I was horrified by how skinny she looked. I’m not going to suggest she gain weight or eat a burger but I really don’t think she looks well.
For fans of hers, Marc Maron did a lengthy interview of her on his WTF podcast a few weeks ago.
It sounds like she’s been through a lot, and maybe some other problems are a result of that. Whatever the case, she’s very talented and I wish her well.
But I would be lying if I said I didn’t notice how much older she suddenly looked on the cover of her latest album.
Saw Fiona in New Orleans last week and it was a truly great show. Her voice was expressive and beautiful, and she hit every note. There is an emotional outpouring in her songs which is a benchmark of someone extremely talented. She’s an artist in every sense of the word, which means she probably has issues just like most of the human population, but at least she has an outlet in her music. If someone wants to slam her for smoking weed, it’s probably hypocritical unless they are straight-edged themselves and abstain from ever drinking or taking a pill. And if she has problems with food, it’s not really mine (or anyone else’s) business. Lots of women (and men) have food issues but aren’t on a public stage to get criticized for it.
hello, meth.
Fiona did an interview with mike maron (sp?) a few months back and she explains her eating habits. She was on a juicing kick for awhile, she is also vegan, she also has extreme OCD and would only eat things by color and size depending on the day of the week. Weird stuff basically. She resides in her own world and quite frankly I think it’s great 🙂
I adore her, and I always have. I just hope she is healthy and staying away from dangerous substances. She is a talented person who seems to have good energy. I won’t pick her apart for her appearance. I understand about weight issues, body image issues and eating disorders all too well.
Love her, she’s a brilliant musician.
she battles an eating disorder as a result of sexual abuse, ive read about it she keeps herself thin so that predators dont find her sexually attractive.
” Fiona Apple, famous singer/songwriter, was raped outside of her mother’s apartment at the age of twelve. For years after her rape she would check her closets to make sure no one was hiding in the house and would be nervous around older men. And she still continues to have bad, violent dreams. During her teens and the months she spent making her album, Tidal, she suffered with an eating disorder. Frustrated at the misunderstanding by the media of her eating disorder she attempted to explain it in a 1998 Rolling Stone interview, “I definitely had an eating disorder. What was really frustrating for me was that everyone though I was anorexic, and I wasn’t. I was really depressed and self-loathing. For me, it wasn’t about being thin, it was about getting rid of the bait attached to my body. A lot of it came from the self-loathing that came from being raped at the point of developing my voluptuousness. I just thought that if you had a body and if you had anything on you that would be grabbed, it would be grabbed. So I did purposely get rid of it.”
Ok so….I used to be roommates with a girl who looks just like Fiona right now.
Skinny, muscular, gaunt face, rambling,a bit erratic etc….
She was a crackhead. And she used to smoke crack daily and she’d tell you how bad it was and to stay away from it.
I loved her like a sister, anyway, I left and never heard from her again. She’s probably dead,she was headed that way.
Fiona reminds me of her because they look identical, same nose and everything.
I absolutely adore Fiona Apple, such a pure, authentic talent, but I agree she’s looking scary-skinny these days.
The living dead!!
Yay! I’m glad you went with this story! I think it’s spreading out farther now because of this post, from what I’ve seen. It’s disheartening to see so many people make comments of the exact variety that she was referencing two nights ago (I saw her Saturday, she was in Miami on Sunday, and I’m seeing her again tonight in Orlando) and in the video above.
Her whole point was that you can’t always judge a stranger based on appearances and that it’s irresponsible to be so hurtful based on those misguided judgments, especially knowing that anyone could be reading. And she’s right; if anyone’s going to be honest about things like drug abuse and eating disorders, it would be her; we know because she has been, in the past.
She’s gone through so many evolutions as a human and an artist, and that’s why I’ve been able to return to her music again and again while also evolving. To me, this Fiona still has a lot in common with the girl who delivered that VMA speech, but she’s also grown in some pretty significant ways, and her music tells that story. Why are body-snarking and accusations of mental illness such common responses to that? Because she’s female, and/or because it’s our culture now? So damn frustrating.
It’s also irresponsible to look the other way when someone obviously needs help.
If she truly needs help — and I’m not saying she doesn’t, just that no one should claim to know what’s going on if they’ve never even met her — then she’s been traveling with the same group of people for a few months now, and they all seemed pretty tight to me. I’m sure that by now, she has a decent support system in place, and even if she doesn’t, anonymous strangers’ opinions are only going to make it worse.
She has suffered from an eating disorder in the past. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s slipping down the rabbit hole or has already relapsed.
She also suffers from OCD. The actual disorder not the whole “I’m a neat freak, I have OCD!” That everyone I know says.
She mentioned getting out of bed at 3 am and walking outside, digging through the trash because she thought the paper towel roll was uncomfortable in the recycling bin.
So yea. She may be talented and amazing and whatever but the poor woman seems to have some issues.
She might have an eating disorder or maybe not. I think if she had more polished look, just a few quick changes to her hair and outfit, she would look no different than victoria beckham. Still super skinny, but people would not be critcizing her and assuming that she is on drugs, etc.
I used to listen to Tidal over and over when I was in high school and I still think it’s one of the best albums ever.
I love Fiona Apple and Tidal still lives on! I also respected her VMA speech back in the day when she called out the music industry for the B.S. it is, but after that her career took a downturn as expected. She looks very unhealthy, but she’s had a rough history. Being arrested for pot is so passe these days I feel. Regardless of how she looks, the woman is brilliant. Her writing, her voice, the raw emotion she unleashes to create her art. Love Fiona!
I love Fiona, always have. She is an immense talent and I wish her a long, healthy life and career. Extraordinary Machine is one of my all time favorite CDs.
I remember very much her video “Criminal”. She looked SOOOO young, like baby young, in that video and the lyrics she was singing.
Always amazing how time just keep marching on.
looks like a meth addict
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
She was downright GORGEOUS in the “Criminal” video (and in that era). And she was at least this thin then.
She’s not old AT ALL, but I guess she’s aged enough to lose the softness of her face and limbs. And she looks like a completely different person. It’s wild.
Also? This is a clear-cut case of bangs trauma. A longer, side-swept bang (and a slightly lighter, more multi-dimensional shade of hair) would be much more flattering.
I just read that she was brutally raped outside her mother’s apartment the day before Thanksgiving when she was 12-years-old. I didn’t know that about her. As far as I’m concerned, she gets a pass for recreational drug use and any other coping devices she might employ. I just hope she’s healthy or working toward becoming healthy.
Arms like Madonna.
) said that as you get older, you have to choose between your body and your face, She’s clearly not choosing her face, which is a shame, because she’s gorgeous.
I was lucky enough to see her earlier in September, in a smaller venue with 4th row seats (I have the coolest best friend ever). I hate the body-snarking and concern-trolling I’ve been reading in the media about Fiona Apple, but I must admit she looked…….not well. Eating disorders can really wreak hell on one’s body, if that’s what is going on. She did not look 90 when I saw her, but simply put, she did not look like a healthy 35 year old. Her behavior was also mildly bizarre. I used to work with people suffering from mental health issues, and it just broke my heart when someone was communicating with odd / awkward / disconnected phrases, because you know what they’re experiencing in their mind is WAY more intense and out there than what they are verbalizing and ugh going through life like that without treatment is exhausting and miserable. I felt the same way when Fiona Apple spoke during the show.
I wish there was some way to funnel this situation into something productive without hanging Fiona Apple’s appearance and figure out as a shaming device. Any ideas? 🙁
The best you can do is not comment. Mental illness of any kind cannot be helped by endless commentary or analysis. She alone can seek help and take it.
That was so honest and sincere–it must be respected. Anybody that doesn’t is a sad soul.
……she will pass away very soon?
I find it outrageous that anyone considers it their business how thin this woman is. She’s not setting herself up as a role model, she has a personal history with abuse, addiction and eating disorders and here everyone is, having a free-for-all about her weight and looks. Even if she is, or was, anorexic, so what? Its Her personal battle.
She had ED, I think she confessed to it many times in the past and I think she still has.
I adore Fiona too and I love her music. But she DOES have an eating disorder and it’s taken it’s toll on her over the years. We all have our issues.
I have her album Tidal from the nineties and I like it a lot. I haven’t really followed her career though – from what everyone on here is saying I need to check out her later music as well. She seems like a cool chick. She is really tiny, and I think she’d look way better w/ about 10-20 lbs on her, but if she’s healthy who cares? Maybe she has a hard time gaining weight…I’d look way better w/ 10-20 lbs OFF me – we all have problems!
I say it is a drug abuse issue that is more the problem here.
I love Fiona. I recall reading an article when she first exploded . One thing she said, was that she was a vegan. I know a few “raw” vegans and they look just like her. The other topic she spoke of was her violent rape as a teen. That could rob anyone their normalcy. She is a survivor. Survive any way you choose, girl.
Just because she is talented & bright & she is, doesnt mean she isnt unwell. We can stress all we want the fact that she is uber gifted, but it does not erase the possibility of her being a sick chick with drug issues or an eating disorder. Being a loyal fan is great, but I dont think its fair to her to say oh well, she doesnt look as healthy as she could, but she is talented & strong so its okay, we can overlook it, so what if she looks sickly. I dont mean that its okay she is being insulted & people are saying terrible things about her though. Anything should be said with care & sensitivity. The vegans I have known may not be super hearty looking, but they are also not emaciated. I am not trying to sound mean by saying she looks sickly, but even her hair looks unwell. Its not a beauty issue with me, its that she genuinely looks sick. She is still an attractive person.
i don’t think she has an eating disorder, i think she’s either suffering from some kind of illness or she’s on drugs. she was thin before, but she just looks sick now.
She’s had an eating disorder in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if old habits resurfaced here and there.
As someone with an eating disorder, I know that it stays with you forever.
I don’t think it’s drugs. Yeah, she had hash on her tourbus, but she’s also FIona Fucking Apple. I highly doubt it’s drugs.
Oh, and by the way, eating disorders ARE an illness. Ain’t just “severe dieting”. Thanks.
On a more related note, I am genuinely worried for Fiona. I haven’t watched the video you posted yet (I’m about to), but I really hope she gets better. Love her. Have loved her for over ten years.
And you should definitely listen to the new album. It’s different, but just as lovely.