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Last week, we talked about Tara Reid’s periodic plea for people to stop commenting on her weight. Every couple of years, Tara has to shut down eating disorder rumors and remind people that when they shame her for being too skinny, it’s also a form of bullying. Tara’s most recent comments came about because she’s doing the press circuit following her brief appearance on the FOX reality TV show, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
During a recent interview with Extra, Tara sat down with her longtime friend, Billy Bush, to talk about the physicality of doing the show. She shared that she had been asked to do it three days before filming started, and if she’d had more time to prepare, she would have done some strength training. The conversation, which you can watch below, evolves into a discussion about her weight. Tara once again denies she has or ever had an eating disorder. She tries to get Billy to sympathize with her, saying, “You know how it is,” in reference to tabloid gossip. It goes south for poor Tara when Billy responds by telling her that “as [her] friend,” he thinks she looks “a little too skinny.”
Extra host Billy Bush expressed concern to Tara Reid that she appears “too skinny” — right after she crushed rumors of her having an eating disorder.
Reid was on Extra Thursday talking about her recent stint on the FOX reality TV show Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test when she asked Bush, who has known her for years, if she “look[ed] any different.”
Bush replied: “I think you look a little too skinny…”
But Reid had always been this way, despite people accusing her of disordered eating. “I eat all the time,” she said.
“That’s not a problem for me. So they make up problems that don’t even exist, and then one person rolls on it and then everyone rides on it…It’s been going on for years, but there’s no eating disorder. I never had one.”
Reid then said that perhaps her current appearance is due to getting older and being a little fragile, adding, “That’s what happens to older ladies.”
Bush told the actress that no one should be making nasty comments about her. But he also said, “I also think as your friend, I would maybe take a look at some muscle-building program.” Reid agreed, saying they should do that for next year if Special Forces resumes.
Omg, I watched the entire clip and the whole exchange (which starts at 2:26) is just so cringe. I feel so badly for Tara. You could tell that Billy knew as soon as he opened his mouth to talk that he was going to have to stick his foot right in it. It’s like his mean-girl mouth took over before his brain neurons could stop him. He sputtered like he was trying to put the breaks on, but nope, he was already committed to giving her the one answer that she had just made clear she did not want to hear. Kudos to Tara for not losing her cool, even though she looked hurt. If Billy wanted to be a bit more diplomatic, he could have led with his eventual answer about doing weight-training to build muscle. Something like, “You do look the same! But like you said earlier, I think you should definitely look into building more muscle so you can kick butt when you go back on the show again!” He recovers okay, but still, yikes.
The Dollar General of the Bush Family. Which is really saying something.
For sure. But he’s not alone in this kind of commentary. People know now (most of them anyway) not to comment on the body size of someone who is overweight. However, it’s always open season on skinny people. I think the big reason for this is the assumption that overweight people do not choose that, but skinny people make a choice. Some do, but a lot don’t. It’s never appropriate to comment on someone’s body size. If you are close to someone and they seem to be losing weight, a private conversation can be diplomatically initiated. Otherwise, it’s really none of your business and silence is free of charge.
Amen Brassy Rebel👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽!
Preach for the commenters in the back @Brassy Rebel! It’s never OK, and that goes for celebrities and royals, no matter how much you may dislike them
Thank you Brassy Rebel. I have a slow metabolism, but my best friend has a very fast one (we have opposite illnesses). We lived together for many years and I watched how much she ate to try and keep her weight steady (which is expensive!) She was self-conscious of her thinness and there was a really constant and tedious string of commentary from outsiders – either concern that she was disordered or praise for losing weight. It did not help her self-confidence for people to constantly point out how thin she was.
=1,000,000,000 Brassy Rebel!!! And you know what, if the person being discussed DOES have an eating disorder you are doing absolutely nothing to help them by commenting. NOTHING.
Thank you! You never know what struggles a person may have and talking about anybody’s size is beyond inappropriate. If you really feel the need to be an arse, then say your peace privately to the person. Then be prepared to be slapped!
I saw a post on instagram the other day that said “Do not comment on anyone’s body, unless it’s something that can be changed in 5 minutes” and I loved it. Basically, is there spinach in my teeth? Do I have toilet paper stuck to my shoe? If not, DON’T say it. I got the most compliments when I was going through a mental health crisis and couldn’t eat.
Does Billy Bush get headlines for anything other than saying terrible things or chuckling at terrible things people say to him?
What if, maybe Tara really does have an eating disorder and as her friend, he wanted to gently call her out, in the hopes that she gets some help? Who knows.
On camera though? No. That’s not the place.
I don’t think anyone is trusting Billy Bush to do an intervention with women.
You don’t do that “as a friend” in front of a camera, you just don’t.
Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, Tara.
Yes! Some common sense: she asked him! lol Some people will just give you the honest truth when you ask…blessing and a curse, lol
She asked (like she wanted him to give her a particular answer). He answered (but not in the way she wanted).
If you go look at her page (there’s a video of her walking in a shortish skirt) – she definitely looks like there’s something going on. Her thighs look like biceps. That is not just from being an “older lady” and “getting fragile” and if it somehow is in her case – that is a perfect argument for weight training to avoid osteoporosis.
Part of me hurts for her. But another part of me, that thinks of all the young impressionable teens watching her ask these questions, give these ‘reasonable’ answers, and then I look at her pictures and I don’t want anyone to think that weight is something to want. So, then Billy’s answer, ‘you do look too skinny’, is OK, if the comment is for people watching.
And what about the women who are naturally skinny and happen to look like her? Are they supposed to feel ashamed? I’m sure you didn’t mean it that way but saying “I don’t want women to want that” implies that there’s something defective or wrong with being skinny.
I’m about 90% sure that this is something Tara is doing to drum a up a little publicity for herself. That being said, not everything is about protecting young, impressionable teens. And honestly, are there truly many young, impressionable teens who are watching Extra and who give two shits about Tara Reid?
Young, impressionable teens should learn that it’s not okay for a grown man to comment on a woman’s body & put his opinion on her weight as the goal for her to match. There is not some magic weight where all men will bow their heads and say “ahh, yes, SHE finally did it! Not too skinny, not too fat for us all!!!”
I think it’s one thing to comment on an overly thin celeb that is pushing a specific lifestyle/diet/exercise program. If some celeb loses a ton of weight and starts waxing ecstatic about their 900 calorie a day diet, then by all means, I’m all for people calling them out on it so that others don’t think that is ok. Or if they drop 90 lbs in 3 weeks and say they are healthy and exercised, when clearly they did something way more extreme, like a drug or surgery, again, they should be called out.
But if someone just looks really thin, and they aren’t saying “eat an apple every three days like me” and we have NO idea why then are thin, illness, ED, or naturally high metabolism, people need to zip it.
I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but by the same token if we notice someone gaining alot of weight, like an unhealthy amount of excess weight, anyone who tries to bring that up, even gently, is automatically accused of “fat-shaming”.
I am 5′ 9″, weigh 145lbs and wear a size 6. People call me “skinny.” I don’t feel skinny but I dislike it when people say it. It just isn’t ok to comment about other people’s weight/body, in my opinion.
Err. Okay. Hmm.
Harassing someone about their weight is wrong. Billy Bush is an ass.
But I have not had one single thought about Tara Reid in about a decade, and if Billy Bush is her friend…I’m going to say that this is how Tara has decided to get people talking about her for a bit.
Yeah, all those years of being the pin up girl for Billy Bush & his ilk didn’t pan out as a successful, long term career for her. Sharknado is done & the woman needs to pay her bills, so she did a B side reality show to keep working…still doesn’t make his comment on her okay.
Billy Bush is a friend to no one but his own image.
Seems like Billy’s the same a-hole he’s always been.
Poor Tara. She’s been used as a whipping post 30 years now. It’s gross.
Billy Bush is back on TV?