This is kind of a wild story. Patrick J. Adams, who played Meghan Markle’s love interest on Suits, was at the Meghan’s wedding with his wife, Troian Bellisario from Pretty Little Liars. In the photos I saw, they both looked lovely and like they were having a marvelous time. Who wouldn’t, right? According to Patrick, while they were waiting for their flight home at Heathrow, some woman recognized them from the paper she was reading. But instead of gasping and pointing like any normal celebrity-spotter would do, this woman was pretty rude, commenting that the photo in the paper made him look “chunky.” So, to get back at her, Patrick photographed the woman sleeping and posted it to his Instagram.
Over the weekend, the Suits actor attended his former co-star Meghan Markle’s royal wedding to Prince Harry alongside his wife, Pretty Little Liars alum Troian Bellisario. After the wedding celebrations ended, Adams and Bellisario headed to the airport to catch a flight out of London.
While there, Adams posted a photo to Instagram of a sleeping woman who he says body shamed him and Bellisario.
“She reads her paper. See’s picture of me and Troian from wedding. ‘My God. What a terrible photo of you.’ I look over. ‘Really. I kind of like that photo. What do you think is wrong with it?’ She pauses. ‘Well, you’re just so….chunky.'” Adams detailed in the since-deleted post (via Daily Mail). “She laughs and falls asleep. I photograph her sleeping. And….scene. #royalwedding.”
You can see the deleted photo here (the face is blurred). Fans got very upset that Patrick put this photo up as retaliation. I agree he should not have done that, not only because of her privacy but it is just such a petty thing to do. However, that doesn’t make the woman’s comments any less rude. Remember, she said this to his face. I’m sure Patrick thought he looked particularly smart in those photos – way to let the wind out of his sails, Lady.
But Patrick who, for the record, has a pretty good sense of humor, felt bad, as he should. So he deleted the picture and apologized:
It’s not the best apology I’ve ever read, mostly because it sounds forced with all of his references to this matter taking up too much of his life already. I’m also struggling with his insistence that this is body-shaming. It was an offensive and stupid remark on the lady’s part, sure, but I took her comment to mean that the photo did not do him justice, not that he actually was “chunky.”
I have an honest question for our UK readers: are weight comments taboo in the UK or is that an American thing? I have a couple of UK friends, both men and women, and we are very close. They comment on my weight – for better or worse – all the time. I just thought they were testing my mettle. I’m not judging anything, by the way. If it’s a cultural thing, it means I can start giving as good as I’m getting with my UK pals.
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Instagram
I can see why he lashed out. If it was just him he probably would’ve let it go. However his wife has been very open about dealing with an eating disorder in the past. I imagine a comment like that sent him into protective mode. Was it wrong? Yes. But I get why a body shaming comment would make him more mad on behalf of his wife.
I would’ve clapped back right there but I’m not Canadian.
IA he should have clapped back right there but sometimes you are just too taken aback by other people’s rudeness.
He should be careful as the horrible rude woman might decide to sue him thou not sure how UK libel/privacy laws would work for this.
They wouldn’t. It’s not illegal to take a photo of someone in a public place and he didn’t libel her.
This is what I think too, Nicole.
I mean, should he have done it? No. Did it unnecessarily escalate the situation? Yes.
But with his wife’s history my guess is also that he immediately jumped into protectiveness. Comments like that (even if the woman did mean it as “oh, this picture doesn’t do you justice) can send a person in recovery spiralling, and we also can never know for sure where she is mentally these days.
So- dick move but I’ll give him a pass on this one.
Yea he’s one of the celebs that legit makes no waves ever so I give him a pass. But yea the woman was rude and I would’ve given her a read immediately
I did not know that about his wife. It makes sense that he would get incredibly defensive.
word salad aside, his numbered instructional on respecting bodies is actually very relevant and succinct. that’s all he needed to post and it’ll be the main takeaway for me!
Ugh. I was expecting this to be worse – but it’s still not a smart/kind move. That being said – that woman was also unkind. She set it up to go negatively. She just HAD to comment on him – which is so weird. I can’t imagine going up to a complete stranger and telling them that they look bad in a photo. That’s just so idiotic. He shouldn’t really have posted the photo of her – it was uncalled for – but at the same time she kind of deserved SOME form of snark back at her.
Your friends comment on your weight? Yeah, that’s not a cultural British thing at all. Insulting each other’s sporting teams? That I get.
It might be more of a banter thing as you are all close friends but yes its not cultural at all.
I don’t know, I think we brits are more honest about weight in general. Yes we joke about it amongst friends but I also think brits are more honest to ourselves that being obese is not healthy and that there’s generally no such thing as being ‘fat and fit’. (hides from the inevitable barrage of comments that will follow). That said we’re the most unhealthy nation in Europe so I guess we don’t necessarily heed our own advice.
According to the model alliance, 70% of women who model have eating disorders, depression, or both.
If those women aren’t happy and healthy, despite being by societal standards, beautiful, young, and thin, then why do we bash women who choose not to buy into the idea of only one body type being healthy with body positivity and fat acceptance?
And not to knock women who don’t buy into body positivity. I understand why they don’t. “if women don’t feel they have access to dignity, love, respect or visibility unless they are dieting, then dieting and trying to be thinner is not a choice.” – Virgir Tovar
He was wrong even though it is rude to comment on someone’s size you don’t know. But what gets me in western societies shaming people is – you can’t really tell someone’s (mental or physical) health by looking at them.
If you tell me a model is healthy and a person who is size 2x like the singer lizzo isn’t, I beg to differ.
Size prescriptions hurt women more because what is considered ideal body and health for women varied with economic issues. Poor countries have tried to fatten women, richer ones prefer delicate features. It is all political bs. Let women’s bodies be.
Last but not least, The same people who shun body positivity or acceptance of body diversity are the same people making comments about Serena Williams or gold medalist Sarah Robles not looking feminine as they compete in sport, or ignoring steoptygia (the inheritance of fat on your butt). Bodies are different. It is ok.
The older ladies who still hate on their bodies and others’ bodies need to work on their feminism.
I think there’s more of a matter-of-factness to discussions of weight in the UK. BUT if one’s friends try and “banter” about one’s weight, then they sound like they’re just a**holes.
I agree, there’s not so much of a f acceptance movement in the UK, perhaps amongst some teens. We know it’s not healthy and I think most people laugh at the idea of it being embraced as some sort of body positivity. I think there is a more matter of fact approach to weight as evidenced in the deluge of reality TV around it such as Supersize V Superskinny etc.
I was taught growing up in the UK that personal comments of any kind were off limits even if intended as compliments (I guess because it shows the recipient you were judging them). These days I think most Brits would say it’s ok to compliment someone’s outfit. But any comments about physical appearance still feel “off” to me. Eg “you lost weight” can sound like “you were fat.” A few weeks ago I walked into reception at work with some new highlights, and a colleague (literally) shouted across the room, “you dyed your hair!” I was annoyed by that – hard to say why. I felt it drew attention to me but somehow in a much less kindly way than “hey, like the new look.” Shows why it’s mostly safest to keep personal remarks to a minimum.
Oh eff this guy. People make dumb comments all the time to public figures, so what? Petty revenge is an ugly look.
So is being a rude bitch
Nope. He’s a public figure, he chose this. Brushing off dumb fan interactions comes with the territory. He’s a jackass to escalate a private exchange into a public shaming.
And she choose to be a rude jackass, so I guess they’re even? I wouldn’t call it a private exchange when someone calls you out in the airport. It’s not like he’s at a public appearance. He’s no different than she is – just trying to get to where he’s going.
Just because people say rude shit all of the time, should people put up with it? No. That’s ridiculous. Being a public figure doesn’t mean that the public gets a free shot to be a POS towards someone famous.
@erinn imo that’s a false equivalency. Yes she was very rude but he put her on blast in front of a potential audience of well a lot of people lol. Amazing passive-aggression there btw. There’s a power differential here and I think on reflection he understood that and that’s why he pulled it.
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
As above comments mentioned his wife has a history of ED & his reaction may have been about protecting her.
Not cool, but I can understand his reaction & feeling protective of his wife.
I understand feeling protective but then – nut up and say something in the moment. Posting a pic mocking this woman doesn’t accomplish protecting his wife either. It’s just silly.
How is he protecting his wife by telling the entire world (or at least more people than just those involved in the conversation) that someone thought she looked fat? Talk about adding insult to injury.
Or even implying it, for that matter. Didn’t the woman say HE looked chunky?
Maybe because I was fat for a long time so I got comments way worse than these all day every day so I’m immune, but I don’t understand, how is he not used to this? He’s a public figure. How do you stay in this bussiness and not develop thick skin?
I don’t necessarily blame him for wanting to respond after the immediate fact- sometimes you’re kind of taken aback by someone’s rudeness, and it takes a few minutes to figure out a response. Posting the picture on IG was poor form, but probably because he felt he had to respond (but if the woman doesn’t see him on IG, then whats the point?) Removing the post once he realized it WAS in poor form was the right thing to do.
He absolutely should not have posted the photo. As previously mentioned his wife has been open about an eating disorder in the past. Based on the explanation he attached to the photo he felt this woman’s comment was directed toward his wife as well. I can empathize he reacted out of anger and defense of his spouse, who could have been very upset at the time. The best policy is to handle things directly, whether Canadian or not.
I think that this guy needs to just calm down. He’s kind of reminding me of armis hammer a bit where he can’t take any criticism. They just react. Get someone to do your pr boy.
Something unexpected as a result of Meghan and Harry’s wedding… I’ve learned, or it’s been confirmed, that this guy and the star of Suits (Gabriel) are kind of crummy people in certain ways. I’m glad Meghan moved on from acting. She’s too good for these people.
Yeah, just like Hilary Duff, no.
You have a massive following and huge platform in comparison to the average person, you don’t get to use it to casually bully people who are rude to you.
Yes, that lady was a rude cow, but no, you can’t post her face online without her consent using your superior social status to chastise or punish her.
Also, we have no way of knowing if this story is true, I believe it this time, but it starts a precedent of requiring zero proof to post nasty things about people.
Gotta love people who respond to petty comments by being even more petty. Like Trumps reimagining the quote by Fist Lady Obama: when they go low, go even lower.
The original comment wasn’t nice but what he did was awful!
And his excuse is utterly passive aggressive- he WAS a bully, He claims he’s too Canadian and nice to talk to this woman directly. If that were the case, why take it further online?
It was clear tit for tat retaliation and the intent was obviously to say ‘this fat woman called me chunky, but look at her she’s massive’. Otherwise why post it.
Whatever she said to him his reaction was deeply unpleasant.
By the way this apology is pure PR damage control. He’s really shown what kind of a person he is with the original post, and the ‘apology’ (which sounds really fake) is him trying to rescue the situation.
Agreed! And he does look chunky in that first photo, due to the cut of the vest.
Ha, came here to say the same: he does look chunky so the woman was right! 🙂
Anyways, I find it amusing that an actor and public figure is so butt-hurt. Get over to it, you chose this life-style (with all the perks that come with it, like a Royal wedding).
Sorry. That’s the same argument that the right made about Michelle Wolf’s comments on SHS. “Oh they’re OBVIOUSLY doing it because LOOK AT THEM”.
You can’t say for certain that he did it because she was overweight. I think it was just such a ridiculous situation that he posted it. Not only did she come out of nowhere just to insult him – she immediately decided to fall asleep afterwards. That IS strange.
+1, Erinn
To your last point, unless she has a sleep disorder, I’m guessing he fumed about it for a bit, later saw her sleeping, and took the photo. Which makes it feel even more petty.
This lady was pretty awful, no question, but he then stooped to her level, and down a little further. It’s so easy to want to fight fire with fire, but what are you willing to live with doing?
He should not expect to deal with abuse from strangers just because he acts for a living, but he also should not use his public profile to attack others.
Patrick and that woman were wrong.
But people seem to have lost any level of manners.
I’ve noticed this over the last few years (definitely since Trump became president) that people seem to think that they can do or say whatever they want without any thought for ramifications.
There goes the great power of equality offer by social media
You be rude to someone for a second
Depending on their power, they will bully you back!!
This guy is a douche!
And from what I understand she was just disappointed that the photo was not complimentary to his actual good looks!!
2 penny celebs have so much ego!
What she said was not nice, but he is hurting himself by his response. She said it in person, he put her photo on the internet. So she is going to be seen as the victim by many.
I guess people nowadays feel they can make a comment to people about anything and everything. She should have kept her mouth shut and he should have ignored it. I guess that saying if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all didn’t cross anyone’s mind.
It turns out he and the woman are both petty little people.
He should have taken the high road and ignored the rude woman. Posting an unflattering pic of her on his social media to get even and ridicule her was lame, but his public apology was even more lame. By doing so, he just turned an unpleasant private exchange into a very public one. Bad move on his part.
I can’t bring myself to feel bad for that woman. I can’t imagine walking up to anyone saying these type of things. Wild.
Me either. People like her that make those types of comments to complete strangers don’t do it just once, they do it all of the time. My father in law and his mother are the same. They have no filter and will tell anyone that they look fat or anything negative about their looks and they don’t think twice and never feel bad about it. Then they don’t understand why you might be upset about it. I also think he took it too far though.
my grandma is like this – i love her but she can be really nasty, and for no reason. On my wedding day, as I was getting my hair done, she told the stylist it was too bad I was so fat. Let me be clear, I am not fat, I was not fat on my wedding day. I just wasnt as skinny as I guess she wanted me to be. Broke my heart and really affected how I felt (and still feel) about my body.
@Original- I’m so sorry! That is just terrible and inexcusable. I don’t understand people that have zero tact and not only think these things but blurt them out and think it’s perfectly ok. It sounds just like my grandmother-in-law. My husbands whole family has major body image issues and I know it’s becsuse of his father and his father is that way because of his mother! I told him we will break that cycle. When I was pregnant with my twins we were visiting his parents and his grandparents came by to see us. She walks in the door and is hugging people and then gets closer to me and says “Let me go see the fat one.” For real. She called a woman pregnant with twins fat and she’s didn’t think twice about it. She thinks pregnant is fat. That is the last thing I wanted to hear but coming from her it wasn’t as bad as say, a stranger saying it to me.
Agreed. I’ll put anyone on blast who thinks it’s appropriate to be rude or insulting to me, if that makes me petty, so be it. I won’t be rude first, but I’ll definitely hit back.
+OriginalLala
I am so sorry that is such a mean thing to say to someone on their wedding day, no matter who it is. I am not sure how long ago it was, but you haven’t forgotten the comment! I have no idea why anyone would say something about weight or appearance to your face.
I think Patrick is human and it hurt is feelings when this woman called him chunky to his face!!! This is so rude and for all those people saying he should take the high road, maybe he has taken the high road a lot and on that particular day, he was fed up! I know exactly how he feels!
Me either. I can’t fathom why anyone would say that to a complete stranger. At least he blurred her face.
People are weird with celebs. Sometimes they fawn all over them…but other times, they go out of their way to be rude and creepy. It’s like a power play. You might be rich and famous, but you aren’t better than me! People love having stories where they tell a celeb to their face “Your last movie/album/tv show/book was crap and you should do better!”.
“I don’t know him.”
The old saying “Two wrongs don’t make a right” comes to mind here. This woman is an a -hole and has no business saying such rude things to strangers (celebrities included), but Patrick should have laughed it off.
I don’t think he needed to laugh it off, he was certainly entitled to say to her that was a rude comment. I think he could have even discussed the exchange on his social media. But posting a photo of her, especially one of her sleeping, crossed the line.
Funny, the old saying that came to my mind was “talk shit, get hit.”
I’m surprised at myself at how appalled I am by his retaliation. Yes, the woman was tactless but didn’t have to engage with her in the first place. So she thought it was a bad photo, he didn’t have to ask what she didn’t like. And as was pointed out it sounds like she said the photo made him look chunky not that he was.
He has a public life, suck it up. To take a photo while she was asleep, even while in public and post was an invasion of her privacy. His apology was pathetic. Invoking Canadianness? Give me a break. Don’t talk shit about other people, you don’t know what they’re going through? Back at ya, mate! He had no idea about this woman or her circumstances. Some people don’t have perfect social intelligence for a variety of reasons. She made a crack in answer to his question. He made a calculated and conscious decision to get back at her.
I’m so happy for him that once he threw out this ‘take backsies’ he’ll never think of it again. The woman may not be as lucky. And while it may serve her right, the low road this actor took is still appalling.
His wife has dealt with eating disorder. A comment like that may be nothing for people with a healthy relationship to food but for someone like that it could trigger the disorder. I am not excusing his actions. But seeing that you are do outraged I think the backstory puts things into perspective a little bit.
But his fat shaming is really helpful of her eating disorder?
I had no idea of his wife’s situation. And it’s quite likely neither did the woman involved. But he’s still being hypocritical as he doesn’t know what this woman may have been going/gone through. I guess his overreaction via public retaliation hit a nerve when I first read it.
The whole thing was a bit odd, that woman was downright rude, I’m English and would have told her to fuck off tbh! He shouldn’t have posted to Insta though.
On another note Mike Ross was the worst character in Suits lol!
He shouldn’t have done this in public but in his defence this was more than likely about his wife. His wife has/ had an eating disorder that’s why he said you never know what people are dealing about. He’s on point when he says you never know what people are dealing with. So just be kind.
I think if you feel insulted face to face, you should answer in kind (or whatever you want to say or do) also face to face. Bringing the other person on social media and exposing her/him to thousands of people, particularly if you’re a celebrity, is a d*ck move and borderline bullying, IMO.
He acted like Hillary Duff who exposed her neighbor to the wrath of her fans for something that could have been solved between her and her neighbor. Entitled idiots with bullying instincts.
“I was too annoyed and Canadian” Dude, don’t excuse yourself in a cultural cliché. Canada is the land of diversity and there are adopted Canadians who don’t fear confrontation instead of hiding behind social networks. Thanks God I’ve seen it, especially when somebody is bullying another person in public.
You are only a coward hiding behind your fame and I am happy you were called for that.
The woman was nasty but you are not better except that you are now even more pathetic with your “apology”.
Seems like a complete over-reaction to me…he must be really sensitive about this issue, whether its his wife or himself he’s offended for I’m not sure…I didn’t think being a bit “chunky” (which I am and he isnt) was so offensive. I’m puzzled by his actions, people are rude all the time, taking a picture of the woman and posting it was OTT. As my old granny used to say…..”keep your tears for bigger sorrows”..
I’ve been told I’ve gained weight at times. But that’s when I actually have been chubby and then I’d try to lose the weight. I did find the comments rude as in I don’t feel it’s necessary for people to comment on my shape, , but at the same time there was truth in them. I don’t like the comments, but the people weren’t lying either (just annoying to me).
In his case, he’s not actually chunky, so in that sense the lady’s comment did strike me as, er, a little weird. Honestly, I’m wondering why the lady was saying something that wasn’t true. Unless beauty standards have gotten so skewed that even celebrities now “look” what people perceive as fat. If random people are telling these people they look chubby, it’s probably not strange that a lot of celebrities would refer to themselves as sort of chubby (i.e Salma Hayek?) in Shape magazine or whatever. We get mad at them for saying it, but why are these random people telling these already slim-enough people they look chubby?
Two wrongs don’t make a right
Celebs — they’re just like us! (Social media is kind of an equalizer now, I suppose).
I don’t think what he did was right, but since he’s not an A-list star I can kind of see how he would have felt compelled to post the photo and gotten drawn into an “argument” in the way that social media can now help facilitate. Like the rest of us regular folk, he probably didn’t think that that many people would pay attention. If he was at Brad Pitt’s level of fame, I think he would have been more cautious about the level of exposure the woman would get and how he would be perceived. Ironically, a higher level of fame probably would have made him act more…
“mannerly.”
I think he’s got 1 million or more followers so from that alone he should have known better. Also he had just been to the royal wedding so he should have been aware that there would be more interest in him just for that. Didn’t he even use the hashtag royal wedding?
True. But I definitely don’t think someone at Tom Cruise’s or Brad Pitt’s level of fame would have been dumb enough to make this mistake.
Personally I am sorry he apologized. People get away with saying really rude things however when that’s turned around on them they act like a victim. I even think that all police cams that they wear should be on a public website. When you were in the public sphere and you say or do things that are obnoxious they can be posted like the lawyer on the racist rant The problem is that there’s a group of people who always have to be at their best in our criticized if they react in anyway and then there’s another group of people who do and say incredibly rude things and it’s considered OK. That is bringing down our society
But he didn’t turn it around on her and say something rude back. He wanted to embarrass her publicly and accepted the possibility that his followers might bully her, that she might get death threats (after all this is the internet we’re talking about) or that it might get blown up in a tabloid due to his connection with the royal wedding. Seems like his feelings were more important than any possible consequences of his actions.
The woman started with: this is a bad picture of you…that’s her opinion, and she’s entitled to it.
He could (and probably should) have left it at that but….
He ASKED her why it was bad, so she told him.
End of story, IMHO.
My earlier comment timed out. But I will also say this – I know Brits who nitpick about other’s weight, and I know those who do not. I find if they do, it is because they themselves have anxieties or hang ups about weight.
People who are comfortable with themselves and their body don’t feel the need to jokingly shame others for their weight.
If you are my friend, partner, coworker, etc. I don’t respect you any less or more for weight loss or gain because I see you as a full person.
Some of these comments, I am shaking my head.
It was rude and frankly I am shocked that he felt the need to do this to get back at her. All this shows me that he has a deep seated complex about his looks. I can’t deal with the pettiness here which I think qualifies as bullying. The Osborne girl had done that to her father’s mistress. Then, she felt justified but we all know how that turned out. Rob Kardashian did same to blac Chyna when he posted her nude pics. He too felt justified after all that blac Chyna did to him. I remember clearly the outrage that was expressed particularly on social media bullying. How is this any different? Everyone gets a rude remark, every now and then. That’s life.. No one is perfect. I am disappointed in him and wish he had applied a lot more good judgment
I think that woman was really rude. I feel like he kinda used a a nuclear weapon to kill an ant.
i love the pettiness of him posting her photo!
Yeah he shouldn’t have posted it which he obviously realised quickly but I have no sympathy for the woman. No one should comment on the bodies of others but especially not complete strangers and you especially shouldn’t call people chunky when you’re considerably chunkier.
Well…at least he blurred the woman’s face. It was petty and he should have said something to her face instead of doing this, but I don’t think he owes anyone an apology.