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  4. 20 Celebs Criticized for Their Curves

20 Celebs Criticized for Their Curves

author Charlotte Hilton Andersen
By Charlotte Hilton Andersen August 28, 2015
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20 Celebs Criticized for Their Curves
These female celebrities have dealt with their fair share of body-shaming—now, they're firing back
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Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: The queen of curves was criticized when an unretouched image from a photoshoot was leaked showing cellulite and a few extra inches that the final picture didn't have.

Response: She fired back on her blog saying, "I'm proud of my body and my curves and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn't mean I'm perfect." (Check out more Refreshingly Honest Celebrity Body Confessions.)

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Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: After the 2010 Golden Globes, New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn sniped about the Mad Men beauty, "You don't put a big girl in a big dress." To add insult to injury, the picture that ran with the post is generally thought to be distorted to make Hendricks look wider.

Response: Said the actress, "Sure, I'd be happier with 10 pounds off—wouldn't every woman? But when I looked at pictures of myself I thought I looked beautiful. I didn't tear myself apart." Her husband added, "I thought she looked gorgeous. The NY Times critic saying that... it was just ridiculous."

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America Ferrera

America Ferrera
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: In an interview with Glamour magazine, she was asked how she felt about being the newest spokeswoman for curvy women in Hollywood. The question read like a backhanded compliment, as in that same issue her cover photo was Photoshopped to make her look half her actual size.

Response: The Real Women Have Curves star showed the perils of any change in weight when she answered, "I'm a regular-size person. I'm a size 6 or 8, which is totally normal. Sometimes I worry more about losing weight than gaining weight, because this is how people know and accept me. I do feel like if I wanted to get in better shape, there might be a backlash of, 'Why isn't she comfortable with herself anymore?'

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Beyoncé

Beyoncé
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: The singer and actress' weight fluctuations have occasioned many a comment since she first arrived on the scene. When she slimmed down for Dream Girls, using the potentially dangerous "master cleanse" diet, she was blasted for losing 20 pounds in two weeks in an unhealthy way. Then, when she regained the weight, she had to deal with a barrage of pregnancy rumors (which finally came true) and was one of the first to get slapped with the "curvy = fat" label.

Response: Not only did she answer the hurtful slams, but she wrote a song about it! Said the singer about her Bootylicious track, "I wrote that because, at the time, I'd gained some weight and the pressure that people put you under, the pressure to be thin, is unbelievable. I was just 18 and you shouldn't be thinking about that. You should be thinking about building up your character and having fun, and the song was just telling everyone to just forget what people are saying, you're bootylicious. That's all. It's a celebration of curves and a celebration of women's bodies."

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Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Maybe it's because she was the first winner of American Idol and one of its most successful alumni, but some of the worst weight jabs are aimed at Kelly Clarkson. Whole websites and internet galleries are devoted to mocking the star's curves (and no, we won't link to them).

Response: The singer maintains her sense of humor, and has said, "I have a curvy figure, which guys like." She added, "I could die tomorrow. Do I wanna die on a diet? Am I gonna meet God on an empty stomach? Probably not—I'm gonna meet him with some steak and taters in my stomach!"

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Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Blogs and gossip rags have long criticized the singer and actress for her curves, detailing how she has her abs airbrushed on with makeup and constantly asking, "Is she pregnant or just fat?"—and that started long before she had twins.

Response: "Everyone said I was fat, so I did something about it," Carey said about caving to the pressure to Page Six. "Here! Feel my thighs! Feel my butt!" she added, insisting Page Six feel her up to confirm her newly toned body.

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Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Even though people have been commenting on her curvy figure since the singer emerged from American Idol, Hudson says she never thought she was "fat" until an interviewer on the red carpet asked her, "How does it feel to be plus-sized in Hollywood?"

Response: At first, the actress defended her weight replying, "I looked around, like, 'Who is she talking to? Oh, me? I'm plus-sized?' In the neighborhood I'm from in Chicago, a size 16 is normal. But in Hollywood, everyone looks exactly the same, so I stood out." But then she became a spokesperson for Weight Watchers, losing over 80 pounds—a feat for which she's arguably more famous for than her Tony or Oscar. And in an interview with Self magazine, she agreed, proclaiming, "I'm prouder of my weight loss than my Oscar!"

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Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: J.Lo's booty is legendary, and while her curves have paved the way for other curvy artists, she also gets criticized frequently for her best, ahem, asset. When pictures surfaced of her wearing a shiny bikini websites everywhere declared her butt "too big" and her thighs "huge."

Response: "I like my body. For most of my adult life, my body hasn't gone up or down, it's remained the same, give or take four pounds." She added, "I have a butt, I have boobs, and I have a woman's curves; there is no way I'd see them go to zero. I hate to look in a magazine and see a picture of a girl who looks so thin she looks unhappy and as if she just needs someone to give her a good meal."

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Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: When a Campari calendar released un-retouched pictures of the actress, both she and her fans were astounded to see how much of her famous curves were shaved off for the final copy.

Response: The svelte star seemed to have mixed feelings about her body when she said, "I can never get down to the weight I was before I had Honor, no matter how hard I try." She adds, "It's not always so great to be objectified, but I don't feel I have much of a choice right now."

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Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Unflattering bikini pictures started an avalanche of criticism about the actress' curvy lower body.

Response: At first, she zinged back with, "A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size 0 doesn't make you beautiful." But when people challenged the fact she was not a size 2, she quietly lost about 20 pounds and then showed off her much-smaller physique in a bikini on the cover of Shape.

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Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: "Curvy," "voluptous," and "healthy" don't sound like insults, but when describing a woman in Hollywood they're often code for "fat," and it's been said that the talented actress has lost roles because her curves make her look too sexy.

Response: While she doesn't hate her body, she has said "It's horrible being a curvy woman!" She added, "People are obsessed. Obsessed with weight, curves. It's nuts. I have my own standard of how I like to look. I'm a healthy person and I take care of myself." (Check out Scarlett in the 11 Beautiful Celebrity Post-Pregnancy Appearances.)

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Jessica Biel

Jessica Biel
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Even one of "the sexiest woman alive" can't escape some body snarking. In this case, the curves being criticized are muscle rather than fat, as bloggers called her "big" and "too muscular."

Response: The actress says that she works hard for those muscles, adding, "There is so much pressure to look a certain way in this town. But it's nice to have a little meat on you, and I hope I inspire women to appreciate their muscular calves."

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Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: First it was pictures of the former supermodel in an unflattering swimsuit that ignited the fat talk, but then her former colleague Janice Dickinson summed up the general feeling by snarking on the

TODAY Show

, "You want to see someone who's fat? I'm sorry, Tyra. Tyra Banks is fat."

Response: With her characteristic flare, Miss Tyra donned the vilified swimsuit, strutted out on the stage of her eponymous talk show and declared, "You can kiss my fat a**!"

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Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: The criticism started early for this child star, who says she "was the fat kid who was always beaten up." It continued with people constantly pointing out her "baby fat," even when she was 35 years old.

Response: The veteran actress calmly replied, "I'd rather be a few pounds heavier and enjoy life than be worried all the time." Adding in an interview with

Elle

magazine, "If you're too thin, they kill you and if you're too fat, they kill you. There's no such thing as perfection and someone else's definition of it is not good enough for me."

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Rihanna

Rihanna
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Ever since the curvaceous singer moved here from her native Barbados, where the ideal for women is bigger than it is in the U.S., she's been battling fat accusations as her weight fluctuates.

Response: "I realized that I actually like my body, even if it's not perfect according to the book. I just feel sexy. For the first time, I don't want to get rid of the curves. I just want to tone it up. My body is comfortable, and it's not unhealthy, so I'm going to rock with it," she said in an interview with

Vogue

magazine.

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Renee Zellweger

Renee Zellweger
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Proving that a girl just can't win, the Bridget Jones' Diary star was ridiculed for being "fat" when she gained 20 pounds for the role and then vilified for getting "too skinny" when she dropped the weight shortly after she finished filming.

Response: She generally doesn't answer questions about how she gained or lost the weight, but says instead, "It's so boring. It's not martyrdom to change your body a little bit to play a girl you really want to play. I'd say that getting a funky haircut for a part is more traumatizing."

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Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: After the singer's separation from husband Jordan Bratman in 2010, she put on a few pounds, taking her from itty bitty to buxom bombshell. Some fans and the media poked fun at her "unflattering" outfits, saying how "fat" she looked on Dancing with the Stars and asking if she was pregnant.

Response: She didn't let it get her down, and told U.K. magazine Company "that whatever size women are, we shouldn't be ashamed of ourselves or our bodies." Many people love her new look as much as she does, making comparisons to Marilyn Monroe. "I think she looks beautiful as her figure accentuates her," says celebrity trainer Kathy Kaehler.

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Pink

Pink
Credit: Corbis

Accusation: We thought Pink looked stunning when she wore this black dress at the red carpet for the John Wayne Cancer Institute. However, the Internet begged to digger.

Response: The singer wasn’t having it. She responded to the negativity by tweeting an open letter, saying “I am perfectly fine, perfectly happy, and my healthy, voluptuous and crazy strong body is having some much deserved time off.”

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Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Sadly, Demi Lovato is no stranger to body-shaming (and she's spoken candidly about battling an eating disorder in the past). Recently, she posted a photo of her curvy body in a bikini and people quickly commented that she's “still fat.”

Response: The singer ultimately had the last laugh because her photo caption was all about body confidence. “Learn to lurrrrrvveee yerrrrr currrrrvveees I actually used to hate them... But then a special someone helped me learn how to love them... And he sure loves them.... #squats#COOLFORTHESUMMER.”

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Serena Williams

Serena Williams
Credit: Corbis Images

Accusation: Serena Williams crushed it at Wimbledon last month, but despite the 33-year-old tennis champ's win, it was her strong, muscular figure that drew the most attention.

Response: Instead of turning to social media, Williams let her body do the talking. In a photo shoot for

New York Magazine,

she showed off her athletic body n a black bodysuit while doing an impressive split. Needless to say, she she looked stunning, proving that actions speak louder than words.

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    1 of 20 Kim Kardashian
    2 of 20 Christina Hendricks
    3 of 20 America Ferrera
    4 of 20 Beyoncé
    5 of 20 Kelly Clarkson
    6 of 20 Mariah Carey
    7 of 20 Jennifer Hudson
    8 of 20 Jennifer Lopez
    9 of 20 Jessica Alba
    10 of 20 Jennifer Love Hewitt
    11 of 20 Scarlett Johansson
    12 of 20 Jessica Biel
    13 of 20 Tyra Banks
    14 of 20 Drew Barrymore
    15 of 20 Rihanna
    16 of 20 Renee Zellweger
    17 of 20 Christina Aguilera
    18 of 20 Pink
    19 of 20 Demi Lovato
    20 of 20 Serena Williams

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