I really hate it when people wear fat suits unless it’s for a specific role. Even then, it’s questionable. It just seems like such a pointless attention-getting stunt. There was an episode of The Bachelorette in 2004 in which the Bachelorette (it was Meredith Phillips for the one person who might care) put on a fat suit and interviewed the bachelors while pretending to be her “cousin.” Then she listened on a secret camera to hear the rude stuff the guys said about her when she was disguised as an obese person. From what little I remember, it did serve to show which guys were the meanest. Given the standards on those shows it wasn’t a bad idea and it wasn’t particularly offensive.
So here we have Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Melissa Gorga donning a fat suit for Entertainment Tonight as part of a “special report on fat, discrimination” and famewhoring to air on Thursday. If this seems like an old, overdone stunt it is. Vanessa Minnillo did it in 2006 for another ET “special report” and as we mentioned the Bachelorette beat them all to the punch.
Did Melissa Gorga eat too many of Kathy Wakile’s sweet treats?
The Real Housewives of New Jersey star stunned onlookers in New York City’s Times Square when she filmed a segment for Entertainment Tonight Monday. Wearing a fat suit, the usually svelte “On Display” singer, 32, went incognito to see if people would treat her differently as a plus-size woman.
The Bravo celeb was joined Jersey Shore’s Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, 23, who said the Real Housewives star looked “sexy” in her fat suit; the segment will air Thursday.
Gorga isn’t the first star to don a fat suit for Entertainment Tonight: Vanessa Minnillo, 30, pretended to pack on the pounds for a November 2006 special report.
[From US Weekly]
I haven’t been watching RHONJ but I guess this chick is Teresa Guidice’s sister-in-law, the one she’s always fighting with and accused of being a stripper. She looks like the Michelin Man in this ridiculous getup, and that’s not a dig on people who are big like this. I will say one thing, at least this look softens her chin. That thing could cut glass.
Photos credit: WENN and Fame
it may not be so much that she was “fat” that made people stare.
it was likely a) the neon pink outfit and b)the obviously fake fat suit. (oh, and the fact that she had cameras following her. that usually causes people to stare…)
not to mention, if you wear ill-fitting clothes, no matter your size, people will stare. and they ESPECIALLY will if you’re morbidly obese and trying to fit into clothes that are too small and show EVERY bit of extra weight on your body.
The moral of the story is “no matter your size, dress for your body type”.
and of course you HAVE to add glasses to the mix, because what is an overweight person without glasses? sigh…so hypocritical coming from women who pride themselves in being size 0’s. i watch real housewives, these women really only care about their bodies and physical appearance, so her wearing a fat suit is not because she cares about actual social issues of those who are heavier…
ummmmm yeah! it’a been done and done already! nothing new to see here people, move along!
People hate fat people so much, but constantly have this fascination with them? I think it’s insensitive and immature. No matter what point they are trying to make or prove.
tasteless way to raise awareness but…obesity is an issue.
Don’t watch either of those shows and no idea who she is. Having said that, what is the purpose of this kind of thing? Wow, shocker, discrimination exists! And how about putting her in a nice outfit that fit and not some heinous, too small getup? That’s discrimination right there – that overweight people look sloppy and can’t dress nicely. Just dumb.
News alert! News alert! Fat people are stare at, discriminated against, and made fun of.
I hate that in order for her to be “fat” she has to put on a ridiculously oversized fat suit and then clothing that is three sizes too small. Anyone who is seriously that size would do their best to actually wear clothing that fits because, big shocker here, fat people still like to look pretty when they’re out in public.
And no fake fat suit on a thin person is going to really portray the way it feels to be stuck in a body that is several sizes larger than what it should be.
If you feature a truly obese person and a hidden camera to show how they are abused and mocked in public, that would be a compassionate news story.
But those who put on horrific looking fat suits in front of camera crews are usually vain, surgically enhanced publicity seekers who secretly think fat people are disgusting.
I think the more interesting “reporting” would have been if she had been disguised as Octomom telling people she was pregnant again and then watching their reactions.
@JaneWonderfalls: It’s less hatred than a fascination with what drives an otherwise perfectly healthy human being to force feed themselves to a state where they can no longer walk properly(which Melissa would NOT be able to do if that wasn’t a fat suit), bathe properly, look after their family and eventually DIE. No matter how open-minded and compassionate you think you are, you will always ask yourself how someone could ever let themselves get into “that state”, because – although putting on a few pounds is perfectly normal – it seems so alien to us to actively seek to destroy our bodies that way.
Society is obsessed by anything outside the “norm”, otherwise no-one would ever have watched 2 Girls, 1 Cup or logged on to Rotten.com!
How is the chick a celebrity?What has she done?Come on ET you can do better than this!!
Here is what I don’t get. I have some weight on me, but when these skinny bitches dawn a fat suit why must it be the morbidly obese fat suits? Is that what all larger people look like, no inbetween? I guess it must be a terrible thing to have a litte weight on you b/c even if your a size 10-12 your considered over weight. I just find it mocking a “larger” size.
ET pulls this fat suit stunt frequently with different “celebrities.” Over it.
I stopped watching RHONJ the last season Danielle was on it. I took Bravo off my favorites list about that time so I wouldn’t constantly get promos for the rest of their crap shows in my face. So I have no idea who she is.
The fat suit stunt has been done to death. I remember the Bachlorette girl doing it. One of the guys unveiled an abbreviation I’d never heard of before on the show: DUFF…designated ugly fat friend. Nice. Did not see the Vanessa Minillo one cause I don’t watch ET. Tyra did it for her show. And let’s not forget the Shallow Hal movie with Jack Black, Jason Alexander and of course the Goop in the suit.
Done….done…done…we’re over it.
This is wildly offensive. Why not walk out in blackface, or shave your head to pretend be in chemo? Morbid Obesity isn’t something to laugh at, it’s a serious issue. There are deep seeded factors leading to Morbid Obesity, emotional, social, and genetic. This is mockery, intential or not.
Yawn
Next story…
Without a doubt, that’s the dumbest looking fat suit I’ve ever seen. And I’m pretty fed up with pseudo-celebs engaging in these ‘experiments’ when it’s well-documented how the subject will be treated.
We know that overweight women will catch more hell than their obese male counterparts; we know that women will endure insults, snickers and mistreatment; and since this experiment is seemingly taking place in NYC, where the people are known for their tact and warmth (eyeroll!!), we know that the insults will be ‘louder’ than usual.
Myself, I would love to see how this weight war manifests itself behind the scenes in HW, specifically, have a talented but overweight female screenwriter or production crew member go about her business, specifically, pitch her screenplay, preferably without a theme about weight discrimination. I would love to know what these seemingly liberal power players would say when confronted with someone with the talent, but not ‘the look’.
Its mean spirited and a thinly veiled insult to overweight people…i used to like her on the show. now not so much.
Actually, from those photos, it looks like she is mocking her fake obese self. What a twit.
At least she’s not “singing”! ب_ب
They forgot about her hands. Look at them! They are totally disproportionate to the rest of her “body.”
A stunt. That’s all it was. Obesity in America is not a laughing matter.
What this trollop oughta be investigating is if people treat gaudy trannies any different, cause really…. Why the fat suit stunt when you look that shitty naturally?
Ridiculous and a waste of good blog space.
I’m embarrassed that I know this, but it actually wasn’t the Bachelorette where they did the fat suit. It was Average Joe on NBC. The first season she was dressed up as her “cousin” and the second season as her “mother.”
Really tasteless. If she wanted to look into fat discrimination, talk to fat people. They just happen to live it and can probably give you a pretty damn good description, rather than wearing an obviously really fake “fat” suit.
Disgusting and an insult to actually fat people.
Its SO obvious its a fat suit – it doesnt look like a real plus size person & this fat suit “expirament” has been done several times over – stupid.
She probably would have received more negative comments just going out as herself- not a looker this one. She looks like a man =(
Didn’t Tyra Banks do this a few years ago? And I remember about 15 years ago, some woman donned a fat suit for an article in a woman’s magazine.
This is the fakest, cheapest-looking, tacky “fat suit” I have ever seen! Nobody’s legs look like that. The pink track suit is really the icing on the cake so to speak. The whole get up is beyond tacky. It’s really insulting to add on the “glasses” also; so glasses are only sexy looking on a hot teacher/librarian but they magically add to an obese look??? Why not put on a gray wig, fake acne, and any other physical attribute to discriminate against.
Of course people stared! I would have stared too. It is a disgustingly bright outfit and it is so obviously fake. It’s one of the stupidist things I’ve seen.
Obviously fake suit, blinding color, TV cameras…of course people stared.
What a stupid, pointless stunt. Who is this loser anyway?
Guess she will sink to new lows. Way to go, Melissa! Was never fooled by her “nicey-nice” act while she ripped apart her husbands family on National Television. Am not fooled that in doing this she cared about anyone besides herself. Amazing what people will do for attention.
Makes me hate her all the more…How full of yourself are you you Melissa?!? Really? You’ve got some issues hon!