Seven stars who refused to be body shamed

  • Published
Chloe MoretzImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Chloe Moretz wasn't happy with the way her Snow White film was advertised

Stories about "body shaming" are nothing new - but more and more celebrities are starting to fight back against the trend.

Earlier this week, actress Chloe Moretz said she was "appalled and angry" over the marketing for her new animated Snow White film.

A poster for Red Shoes & The 7 Dwarfs showed a tall woman next to a shorter, heavier version of herself.

The caption read: "What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 dwarfs not so short?"

Image source, Tess Holliday

After plus-size model Tess Holliday tweeted a photo of the poster, Moretz apologised, external to her fans and said she hadn't approved the marketing, external.

The film's producers withdrew the ad campaign.

And last week, Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland took to social media after suggestions she looked anorexic in a recent photo.

Here are seven other stars who hit back after criticism over the way they look.

1. Lady Gaga

Image source, Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Lady Gaga came in for criticism after she wore a crop top during her performance at this year's Super Bowl.

More than 100 million people watched the legendary half-time show worldwide, but some made cruel remarks about her stomach and said she "wasn't fit enough".

The singer took to Instagram, external to respond with an empowering message to her fans.

"I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too," she said.

"I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you."

2. Amy Schumer

Image source, Mark Davis/Getty Images

The comedian and actress has memorably taken on body shamers on more than one occasion.

When the advert for her film Trainwreck was released in 2015, one critic, external referred to her as a new member of director Judd Apatow's "Funny-Chubby Community".

Posting a photo of herself almost naked on Twitter, Schumer wrote: "I am a size 6 and have no plans of changing. This is it. Stay on or get off. Kisses!"

There was more to come.

At the end of 2016, she responded to social media "fat shamers" who questioned whether she was an appropriate choice to play Barbie in a forthcoming film.

Alongside a photo of herself in a swimsuit, external, she said she was honoured to be considered to play "an important and evolving icon".

"Is it fat shaming if you know you're not fat and have zero shame in your game?" she asked.

"I don't think so. I am strong and proud of how I live my life and say what I mean and fight for what I believe in and I have a blast doing it with the people I love.

"Where's the shame? It's not there. It's an illusion. When I look in the mirror I know who I am."

(Schumer has since left the Barbie project over a scheduling conflict., external)

3. Meghan Trainor

Image source, Mike Windle/Getty Images

In 2016, the singer made her record label take down the new video for her Me Too single after she noticed she'd been digitally altered.

Or to use her words, "they photoshopped the crap out of me".

Trainor took to Snapchat to tell her fans: "I'm so sick of it, and I'm over it, so I took it down until they fix it."

She added: "My waist is not that teeny, I had a bomb waist that night. I don't know why they didn't like my waist, but I didn't approve that video, and it went out for the world, so I'm embarrassed..."

A day later, the video reappeared, external with Trainor restored to her rightful size.

4. Lena Dunham

Image source, Getty Images

In March this year, the star and creator of HBO's Girls responded to criticism about her recent weight loss.

Dunham had attracted headlines about her dramatic new look. But in a lengthy Instagram post, external which referred to her struggle to control her endometriosis, she said: "My weight loss isn't a triumph and it also isn't some sign I've finally given in to the voices of trolls."

The actress said she had made it clear over the years that she didn't care what anyone else felt about her body.

"I've gone on red carpets in couture as a size 14. I've done sex scenes days after surgery, mottled with scars. I've accepted that my body is an ever changing organism, not a fixed entity - what goes up must come down and vice versa."

5. Jennifer Lawrence

Image source, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Back in 2013, Jennifer Lawrence said she thought "it should be illegal to call someone fat on TV" after red carpet criticism of her own figure.

Speaking to US host Barbara Walters, The Hunger Games star said she was worried about how the media's attitude affected young people.

"The media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool," Lawrence said.

She added: "I mean, if we're regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words, because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren't we regulating things like calling people fat?"

The actress, who won an Oscar for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, had previously spoken out against gossip magazines and TV shows which criticise the way women look.

She told the December 2012 issue of Elle magazine that "in Hollywood, I'm obese. I'm considered a fat actress".

6. Kate Winslet

Image source, John Phillips/Getty Images

The Titanic star and Oscar-winning actress has spoken on occasions about how she was bullied at school and called "Blubber".

"I was even told that I 'might be lucky with my acting, if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts'," she said during a speech this year, external for the WE charity at London's Wembley Arena.

"I felt that I wasn't enough, I wasn't good enough. I didn't look right... and all because I didn't fit into someone else's idea of 'perfect.' I didn't have the perfect body."

The star said her love of acting meant she was always auditioning for roles - however small.

"I would often get cast as the crocodile, or the scarecrow, or the dark fairy, I was even a dancing frog once. But it didn't matter. I still loved it... I wanted to be great and I was determined to keep learning."

Kate, who made her film debut aged 17 in 1994's Heavenly Creatures, shot to global stardom three years later as Rose in James Cameron's blockbuster Titanic.

She said: "The most unlikely candidate, Kate from the sandwich shop in Reading, [was] suddenly acting in one of the biggest movies ever made!"

7. Vin Diesel

Image source, Getty Images

It's not just women who get criticised for how they look.

Vin Diesel found that out in 2015 after the publication of unflattering pap shots of him shirtless in Miami. Some comments on social media referred to his "dad bod".

The Fast and Furious star responded by posting a photo on Instagram , externalwhich showed off his muscular physique.

He said one journalist, during an interview for his film The Last Witch Hunter, had even asked to see the "dad bod".

"Haha," Diesel wrote. "I am wondering if I should show the picture... Body shaming is always wrong!"

Follow us on Facebook, external, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, external, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents, external. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk, external.