Jillian Michaels Responds To Backlash Over Her Controversial Comments About Lizzo’s Weight

Fitness expert Jillian Michaels made an appearance on Buzzfeed’s AM2DM show, and the guest spot generated more controversy than she was likely anticipating.

The host praised Lizzo and model Ashley Graham as celebrities who preach body acceptance, after which Michaels shared her thoughts about “celebrating” Lizzo’s body, saying, “I love her music, yeah, a hundred percent. I don’t know anything about her, I’m sure she’s a cool, awesome chick. […] But why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter? That’s what I’m saying. Why aren’t we celebrating her music? ‘Cause it isn’t gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes. I’m just being honest. I love her music. My kid loves her music, but there’s never a moment where I’m like, ‘And I’m so glad that she’s overweight!’ Like, why do I even care? Why is it my job to care about her weight?”

Michaels’ comments were not warmly received online, which prompted Michael to post a response, sharing an image of text that reads, “As I’ve stated repeatedly, we are all beautiful, worthy, and equally deserving. I also feel strongly that we love ourselves enough to acknowledge there are serious health consequences that come with obesity – heart disease, diabetes, cancer to name only a few. I would never with these for ANYONE and I would hope we prioritize our health because we LOVE ourselves and our bodies.”

This comes days after Lizzo announced she would be taking a break from Twitter due to the environment on the platform, writing, “Yeah I can’t do this Twitter sh*t no more.. too many trolls… I’ll be back when I feel like it.”

Lizzo’s music, by the way, is certainly being celebrated by the Recording Academy, as she is the most-nominated artist at this year’s Grammys.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music.