Is it okay if I don’t see what the fuss is about with this latest Lady Gaga controversy? I’m not going to yell at her, nor am I going to defend her. The other day, Gaga tweeted this message: “Just killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IWasBornThisWay”. And everyone freaked out, I guess because of the “pop singers don’t eat” hash-tag. Some people are yelling at Gaga for being a bad body-image influence on The Children – The Mail had some reactions from anti-eating disorder advocates, which you can read here. Some people are defending Gaga’s quip as a moment of honesty – Lainey had a good defense piece, which you can read here.
Lady Gaga has admitted in the past that she was bulimic when she was in high school, and Gaga has encouraged young girls to stop dieting and adopt healthier body images. So… does she deserve to be criticized for hypocrisy? Does she deserve to be criticized for promoting unhealthy eating habits? Eh. Not to parse Lady Gaga’s tweet to the extreme, but she said she was eating a salad, not that she was starving herself. As for the “pop stars don’t eat” – whatever. I can’t believe everyone is getting this upset about a hash-tag. I feel like… Gaga should just issue one statement of explanation, and then just drop the whole thing. Is this really a teachable moment? Meh.
Incidentally, Star Magazine has an awful story this week about Gaga that I really, really hope isn’t true. It’s just a little blurb claiming “since Adele swept the Grammys, Lady Gaga is worried that her star is fading.” According to a source, “Gaga feels that her career may have plateaued and that she’s been eclipsed by Adele… she’s consumed with jealousy and slams Adele all the time, even referring to her as that ‘fat cow.’” I don’t think it’s true. I hope it’s not. But Gaga leaves herself open to these stories because she doesn’t say anything when her little monsters attack and bully Adele.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
Woteva pop stars don’t eat let move on to some thing better
I think it’s silly to hate on her for this. I am no Gaga fan, but it seems fairly evident that she was being tongue-in-cheek and making a joke about it. She’s clearly eating SOMETHING, so for people to say it sends a bad message to The Poor Impressionable Children if she says she’s eating a salad… overreaction, that’s all.
she could challenge adele to an eat off
ha, that’s funny. I could totally see her slamming Adele behind closed doors because her star is fading– doing the whole Kelly Osborne, “I used to be that size so I can talk s***… she started it”
Or a wrestling match.
I totally buy gaga hating adele. I think she went from being in on the joke and laughing at herself and the world to being self righteous and self obsessed. I think everything gaga does that is good is clouded by what an idiot she is. It’s a shame because she really has some positive and powerful stuff to say.
She shouldn’t compare herself to adele at all though. It’s apples and oranges.
I, for one, totally DON’T buy it. It’s like you said: they’re not even comparable. Why would Gaga hate on Adele- if it’s really for the grammy’s, would she not hate a lot of other singers too? I mean, it sounds pretty exhausting to start ‘hating’ every other singer just because they’re succesful. I doubt someone as rich and powerful as Gaga bothers with this sort of stuff. Please. It’s just the media trying to stirr up some controversy where there really isn’t any. They often do that with women artists that are in the same line of business- like we all can’t co-exist or something.
I hear you on the media pitting women in the media against each other, but it REALLY rubbed me the wrong way when Gaga, queen of anti-bullying, said nothing about her fans being mean about Adele’s weight. As someone who struggled with EDs and so publicly denounces bullying, Gaga should have said something. It just makes me feel like there might be some truth behind the Gaga not liking Adele stories.
I totally agree that she hates Adele. Just look at her behaviour at the Grammy. She skipped red carpet and ignored the press. And you know that she is huge attention whore. Recently she said that she is taking break from media and what she is doing – twitting some stupid comments about eating knowing that media are obsessed with celebs and eating disorders.
Gaga has already addressed the Adele issue:
Her spokes person said “Lady Gaga does not approve of bullying anyone for their physical appearance, it goes against everything she stands for. A tiny handful of fans may be letting her down.”
And then on BBC1 radio she said, “I didn’t speak to anyone in particular, but anyone who would say anything negative about Adele, I wouldn’t support. I love her immensely. She’s very sweet. We’ve exchanged emails about our mutual love.
“I wish her all the best for her recovery in her vocals, and I can’t wait to hear her new music. She’s an amazing success in the U.S. and in the U.K., and it’s wonderful to see such strong women thriving in pop music. I wouldn’t condone anything against Adele.”
Yes her star if fading, if she would just stop and be a real person, oh yeah she would be boring. I have to say she looks way older maybe in her 30’s.
I’m with you – I think she was refreshingly honest! I wish more stars would admit they “don’t eat” and exercise a lot (she also talked about going to two spin classes) to get their bodies.
Gaga has admitted she uses drugs (still). For her to admit that and then say she doesn’t eat is not a healthy message to send out to teens who look up to her.
Team Adele.
We should be more worried about the fact that she went to back-to-back spin classes. Who needs to do THAT MUCH exercise in one day??? And then to follow up a calorie burn like that with a freakin’ salad?
Okay, this is really, really stupid. I’m not a Gaga fan, but I’ll have to defend her on this one: She was just saying what every damn person in this world already knows! Seriously. Do people think that celebrities can be this stick thin by not giving up food?! Lainey is right – It’s not a secret.
Agree. It’s all about portion control. Even if you eat clean you can gain weight .. and what is so very bad about teaching children or anyone for that matter that it’s good and healthy to be a normal body weight?
And to control your portions, eat healthy and not eat fast food or whatever you want all the time?
I find photoshop more unhealthy than anything else in the media — it shows perfect skin, perfect bodies that no one not even athletes, models can have, and no aging .. unreal. No one can achieve that.
But we can achieve eating right, and being a thin or normal body weight.
I think it was just a throwaway comment. Hhell, almost every time I have a salad a small part of me wishes it was a big greasy sinful thing instead, and then I pat myself on the back for not having done that. This time. lol.
Well, if she’s watching her figure, she probably shouldn’t eat a cheeseburger. (If she’s an athletic performer, she probably wants to avoid that cheeseburger, too)
I’m all for body confidence, but somehow, this push for acceptance of all sizes has swung around to attacking people for watching their weight at all. I’d love pizza for dinner everynight. But I also like having a trim figure. So I eat salads, and tuna, and yogurt, etc. I’m not unhealthy, but I’m not eating whatever I want, either. Some people can’t have cheeseburgers and their ideal body too. Let’s just be honest.
You could love being a 12, 14, 20, whatever and proudly wear your bikini and look fabulous. But in the same vein, this is my body, and I reserve right to make into whatever (healthy) shape I choose. If I want to enjoy ice cream and put on 10lbs, that’s my prerogative. If I like how I look better when I dont eat the ice cream, that’s my business, too.
There is nothing wrong with skipping the bad food, even if for vanity’s sake.There’s more to life than being thin, but there is also more to life than eating french fries.
We are all allowed to make whichever choice we want.
Wow, this sums it up really well. 🙂 I always stick to this way of thinking…
I agree with you! you said it will! it definitely goes both ways…in the end it’s your decision. hopefully it’s a healthy decision, and that can include occasional cheeseburgers and the lot lol, but it’s the person’s own right
AMEN. I’m all for people loving themselves and stopping all the body hate, but in recent years this has indeed begun to turn into an attack on anyone who takes their health seriously, enjoys working out, or enjoys having a lean and fit body as opposed to a soft body. If someone is thin they always now have to make out that they hate being thin and are desperately trying to gain instead of just saying they like being thin or they like working out.
When Miley Cyrus (who has an amazing body) has to fight off anorexia rumors, you know that it’s gone too far. It’s hard to believe now that it used to be socially acceptable for someone to admit they were watching their weight.
When asked about it, like when it’s nachos at the pub night and you don’t join in, that can be annoying. If you say you’re not hungry, you immediately are slammed with “what–are you scared you’re gonna get fat?” (insert my eye roll)
I’ve started just saying–“No thanks, I’m watching my figure”. It’s a polite (kind of vintage) way of saying it, so people usually leave you alone.
I’m not going to be embarassed by the fact. If someone says my skin looks nice, I say “thanks, I use egg whites on it”. There’s no real difference here, and we need to stop pretending that some people are just “lucky”, while other people are just doomed to be unhappy with their looks. This is a detrimental way of thinking that is just going to make people feel bad about themselves. We have to start admitting “I like my body/face/etc to look a certain way, so I take measures to encourage that.”
Like getting a tattoo, hair extensions, a haircut, etc, you have every right to arrange your body as you see fit. It’s yours.
Amen. I like being slender and feel my best at a certain weight range. I could pig out and gain weight, but when I have and gone up more than one size I am not as energetic towards life. I like being able to go into my closet and throw on anything and feel good. I am disciplined but eat in moderation for the most part, but no foods that I like are off limit, just not huge portions, instead smaller portions.
Yeah you are right. Women just can’t win in this situation. When media are claiming that Aguilera is fat, Cyrus is almost anorectic, Simpson is obese being pregnant,… it just makes me sick.
um yeah ok zelda, but its a bit different when you are a star – especially one as self aware as she is who has young fans and has said differently in the past. i think the point here is that shes a hypocrite, but thats nothing new.
I’d argue that it’s more important to be honest if you have fans.
To a point.
It’s not like she’s saying “Railing my fifth line today–gotta drop that weight!” (which I wouldn’t really rule out, ftr)
How is she a hypocrite? There is a huge difference btwn starving your self to be thin(what she was speaking against) and eating healthy and exercising to stay thin(what she was saying on twitter.)
Ugh. People will find anything to complain about. I can’t stand Gaga and hate when I am put in a position to defend her. But, she is not wrong here.
I agree completely. My mom had a big love of vegetables and fruit, and that really influenced me and my eating habits. I remember how her co-workers would always give her a hard time about her “rabbit food” because she didn’t want to eat a pastrami sandwich with them. It is crazy how some people try to shame others into eating horribly with them. (But I would venture the same is true the opposite way, people who eat poorly might get teased for that too).
TOTALLY AGREE.
She’s stupid. I’m glad her “star if fading”.
Is this a joke? She is gearing up for a tour and put on weight off tour and is getting back in shape. Who said she is starving herself? A cheeseburger is unhealthy. When I am eating healthy and trying to lose a few pounds, I dream of fried chicken. So what?
What the F ever! She may have titled her tweet “Pop Stars Don’t Eat”, but obviously she was eating. She was simply making a statment that she was working out hard and then had a healthy salad as oposed to a cheeseburger, which is what she REALLY wanted. Who hasn’t done that (eaten healthy, when what they really wanted was some yummy junk food!) Ugh! Puh-leeze!!!
I don’t think “Pop stars don’t eat” is the best message to throw out there, but it’s not worth freaking out over.
It bothered me that she promotes herself as anti-bullying, but never told her followers to stop bashing Adele. It was a good opportunity to actually practice what she preaches.
She did address the Adele thing. I posted quotes up above.
“Pop stars don’t eat” I think was her being cheeky. And, of course, it’s being blown out of proportion. In the same tweet she said she was eating a salad.
I hate that the media tries to make everything a big competition between Adele and Gaga. (Honestly, Katy Perry is more direct competition than Adele because Katy’s album was dance music.) I also hate that everyone makes it sound like you have to like one or the other. I love Gaga andI love Adele.
I believe that she’s jealous of Adele. Did you see how mad she looked at the Grammys when Adele won?
She’s what I like to call a real “natural beauty”
She said that in US Weekly like 3 years ago
Really? People are taking dietary advice from pop star tweets?
Also. Her star is not fading. She’s taking a break. Good thing, too becasue she was getting over-exposed. It’s called perspective and often leads to a long career and anticipation of an artist’s next project.
If you think Gaga hates Adele you know nothing about Gaga.
I believe Gaga is a little bitter towards Adele. She made such a huge fuss about Born This Way, saying it was going to be the album of the decade. It wasn’t even the album of the year. Adele was the silent killer of pop stars this past year. I’m sure her success humbled Gaga, who must now regroup.
I’m with you samanthalous; i’m tired of this brittle little mediocre hack; she lies about her past because we know what her real background is and unlike the great soul and rock bands of the 60s/70s that actually did little marketing, without the wraparound media circus/marketing Lady xerox would be a burlesque performer at a mid town manhatten club;
Because i like INXS I went on youtube and watched some of their songs from a great performance they gave at Wembley July 1991 Three hours of live music before 70,000 great english fans singing and dancing the whole time;
If gaggles is as great as her fans think, has she ever done that? Could she? Check it out if you don’t believe me. That was a concert – wish i would have been there.
You don’t know what you are talking about if you don’t think Gaga can do 3 hours of live music. That is what her shows ARE. She sings live, full out, plays the piano, etc. She isn’t your usual pop star mouthing the words to prerecorded tracks.
I wish she wouldn’t dress so weird all of the time. She’s actually quite pretty.
First, did you watch the clip of INXS on youtube;
Second, it’s generally agreed that English crowds are the best;
Third, I’ve been to many concerts over the last ten years – the stones, U2 three times, etc. – none of the crowds rocked the joint the way that crowd at Wembly did in July 1991;
Forth, its been said many many times that todays technology – cell phones, cameras,etc. – are ruining live events, people are only half at the event while consumed with texting and taking pics. etc.
I wish she’d take her crazy attention
whoring antics and disappear.
her star IS fading.
no thanks to her crappy wardrobe and stupid props.
I’M SURE SHE MEANT POP STARS CAN’T EAT “JUNK FOOD” WHILE SHE WAS EATING HER FUCKING “SALAD”.
ugh……Gaga is SO BORING. if she ate, she’d be more interesting and a role model of sorts. I’ve never understood non-gay icons being gay icons (glad she’s open to be herself and all good for that other stuff) – seems she’s hardly sweating to put out another album….must stink that she put herself up to care about her body and costumes (even) equal to or less than the quality of her music….
She is so contrived it’s boring.
And really, Madonna did it better the first time around.
That said, this doesn’t even rate as surprising. She has put in a lot of effort to lose some baby fat and here she is explaining how.