Do you ever look at old photos of yourself and think, “What was I worried about back then? I was really pretty/thin/clear-skinned?” Sure. We all do that, I think. Do you ever look at old photos of yourself and think, “Oh, God, I never realized how big my nose looked from that angle” or “Man, that’s an unflattering photo” or “Awesome, my freshman-15 year.” Of course, right? That’s part of life too. That’s sort of what actress Lucy Hale did on Father’s Day. She posted the above Instagram to give a shout-out to her dad. The actual caption on the IG is “You taught me to have soul. I love you daddy.” Which is nice. She left the comments open and when responding to a friend, Lucy commented on her own IG, “Ugh, I was so fat.” That was not the caption! It was just a self-critical comment.
Well, people freaked out. How dare a 28-year-old woman be jokingly (?) self-critical? How dare she be like every other woman who looks at an old photo of herself and goes immediately to her perceived flaws? People yelled at her for being an irresponsible role model, for using the word “fat,” for making it sound like being “fat” was the worst thing ever, etc. While it was a stupid comment to make – in addition to being untrue, because look at her in that photo – I kind of feel bad that the reaction to her comment went WAY overboard and people were writing thinkpieces about the word “fat” and what it all means and how Lucy Hale should never speak again. Lucy had to shut down the comments on that Instagram, and she issued an apology on Twitter:
Sometimes I forget that people are watching everything I do and I say things I don't mean. I'm extremely sorry if my comment about my weight
— Lucy Hale (@lucyhale) June 20, 2017
Offended anyone. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. I know people look up to me and I should be way more aware of what I say sometimes
— Lucy Hale (@lucyhale) June 20, 2017
Thanks for all the love and support. Hope y'all can forgive me ! ❤️
— Lucy Hale (@lucyhale) June 20, 2017
That apology seems kind of half-assed to me, but I also think it fits the half-assed controversy. Should she have called herself “fat”? No. But come on, most of us do that when we look at photos of ourselves. The difference is that she’s a “role model” to young women, which apparently means she can never say the word “fat” or be self-critical or whatever. That’s what her apology sounded like to me. She wanted to tweet “I’m sorry for offending you or whatever.”
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
To be fair, yelling at someone’s self perception is a useless exercise. On the other hand, the photo posted depicts nothing Even approaching vaguely chubby let alone “fat” and to see that is either A) a serious body dysmorphic issue or B) one of those obnoxious compliment-troll comments … Neither is attractive, helpful or secure. Yes, she’s young. Yes, we all make mistakes & misspeak. But it’s also true that if make them in the public eye, you’re gonna get called on them. Downside of being in the spotlight; a position that also comes with tons of upside.
Looking at the photo of her now it definitely seems possible she has body-image issues.
I think she has spoken of body dysmorphia in the past as part of an ED, and I think that as someone privileged she needs to get help.
The issue is that she was perfectly lovely before – and would be beautiful and loveable at any weight – but why doesn’t she think so?
This probably isn’t helpful for whatever body issues she has, but she looked better before! The extra weight softened her face.
I watched a recent interview with her, she said she cut off booze hence her weight loss.
This is a dumb controversy.
Agree. She doesn’t owe anyone an apology. This is ridiculous.
I just think it’s sad that her “fat” picture is everyone else’s thin pic. The woman is extra thin now. The standards and pressures celebrities are held to are ridiculous- beauty and ig comment-wise.
She shouldn’t have apologized. Her comment was harmless.
I’ve read that she’s had a history of dealing with eating disorders – so yes while she is a role model to others – she is also a human being dealing with her own issues. I think people need to give her a break.
Did she do something to her lips?
Maybe she wanted to say it about herself first before someone else did. (I don’t think she’s fat in that picture — she just seems to have a bigger chest — but people on social media have no issue calling other celebrities fat when they aren’t, so perhaps she wanted to circumvent that).
Yeah, she def got lip injections.
She has a history of anorexia 🙁 it is really hard to get into remission, but once you have, you have to be careful to always eat. Losing weight will reactivate the illness, which is the most deadly for women 16-24, and the most deadly mental illness period.
From the above picture, she seems to have lost a lot of weight, so I think that comment is indicative of body dysmorphia/mental health issues as comment from ‘ S’ above says. EDs are as much about trauma and genetics as society and hollywood punishing young women who dare to be fat so I don’t judge her, just feel for her.
If she does have history of eating disorders her comment is disturbing for a lot of reasons far more serious than the “role model” dig. Honestly, she’s obviously a lovely woman, but I think she looks far more beautiful in photo one, than the current pics.
Yep, just wrote as much under your comment, we are preaching to the choir I guess.
It is concerning to me bc people with Eating disorders who follow her on Instagram might start to think – ‘if she is fat in that old picture, I am as big as a house!’ and it can be a really awful competitive mental illness like that, and because let’s face it – our society usually praises women for being super thin. She might get more parts for looking younger, so the weight loss gets reinforced.
people with EDs never think they are sick or thin enough to get help when in fact that is a hallmark of the disease. My heart goes out to her.
Not only that but her costar has a history with an eating disorder that she is very open about. So this comment is more than “hurtful” it seems like a cry for help
Ahhhhh, those lip fillers are awful!
All I see in her current picture are lip fillers and veneers 😮
She’s so cute, why did she mess with her face like that?!
MTE, she doesn’t even look like herself anymore.
She has lost a lot of weight since then yet her lips seemed to have gotten bigger.
And her chin became very square! If her name hadn’t been attached to the photo I wouldn’t have thought it was her at all.
Yeah, I don’t know if she did something to her face or if she just lost weight, but she looks pretty harsh in the last few photos. A few extra pounds suited her.
I think the jaw difference is due to weight loss. My face shape changed a LOT when I lost weight.
won’t being unable to be self-critical because others are watching have the potential to be damaging?
not being able to criticize yourself because of what others think seems just as crappy as not being able to love the way you look because of what others think…
I think she looked better in the “before” version. The softer hair color, less bony. Just my opinion.
For a girl with a history of eating disorders (and really, most women in general), calling herself “fat” is pretty normal. I can see how this is offensive to a lot of people considering she has always been pretty petite, by no means fat in reality. But this is her self-perception. She has been looking a lot thinner lately and I am afraid maybe she’s relapsing a bit? Going back to old ways? Even if it isn’t a full blown ED, those disordered thoughts never really leave your mind. At least for most of us who are recovered or in recovery. I really hope she’s okay.
A lot of women call themselves fat, just for effect, just for someone to say, “Are you kidding, you’re SO THIN!” Kind of a “compliment grab”.
But it is also relative: I have a friend who has never been bigger than a size 4-6 her entire life (even when pregnant, you would never guess unless you saw her from the side- carried a “basket ball”, all in front). Anyway, we were having lunch, and she’s telling me that she won’t have bread with her salad, because she “a bit big, and has to lose “her pooch” (tummy weight) before her beach vacation”. Now, I’m a size 10-12 (and very happy with it, thank you 😊), but for my size 4-6 friend to tell me that she feels “fat”? lol It’s all how you see yourself.
Oh, for the love of God. I was looking at this yesterday all like “wtf?”. Also, this is a woman who has suffered from EDs. Whether she fits the “ideal” notion of beauty or not, it’s like she cannot win.
I feel bad for her tbh, obviously she wasn’t fat but the thinkpieces and yelling at her are way OTT.
The half-assed apology was pitched exactly right, because she literally has nothing to be apologising FOR.
I’m so glad I’ll never be famous. Having to be constantly PC to not hurt anyone’s feelings would be exhausting.
Who?!
She has a history of suffering from eating disorders, and that photo seemed to be taken at a time where she had reached a healthy weight. I think that context is important in this situation – speaking of her body in that way is a little irresponsible for Lucy’s fans who may be battling the same demons.