Listen up, haters, Demi Lovato and her “fuller figure” are speaking. After seeing a story in the Inquisitr with a headline about her “fuller figure,” Lovato took to her Instagram Story to call out the outlet for finding her body shape newsworthy: “I AM MORE THAN MY WEIGHT,” she wrote.
In her post Lovato—who has been open about her history with eating disorders—explained that “unlike the past,” the headline about her body didn’t necessarily trigger her. Instead, her issue with the article was that this publication, and the reporter behind the story, thought it was OK to be writing about her size at all. “I’m angry that people think it’s OK to write headlines about people’s body shapes,” she wrote. “Especially about a woman who has been so open about being in recovery from an eating disorder. I am not upset for myself but for anyone easily influenced by this diet culture.”
She goes on to call out “toxic” stories like this. “Too many people today base their ideal body weight off of what OTHERS tell us we should look like or weigh. Articles like this only contribute to that toxic way of thinking,” she wrote. “If you’re reading this: Don’t listen to negative diet culture talk. You are more than a number on a scale. And I am more than a headline about my body shape.”
But here’s where this story gets really awesome. The writer actually responded to Lovato and apologized to her personally, according to a screenshot of their conversation that she posted on Instagram. “You’re an incredible talent and you’re right, your body is not all you are,” the writer said. “This is a lesson learnt.”
The Inquisitr left the post—and the problematic headline—live in the interest of “transparency,” but added an author’s note. “Firstly, a sincere ‘Thank you’ to Demi Lovato for her grace and patience in our exchange,” it reads. “While I wrote this story with the best of intentions, I totally appreciate and understand her perspective on the matter and culture in general, and I truly appreciate her taking the time to have a dialogue with me about it. As Demi said to me, ‘Our voices are all we have to create the biggest change on this planet.'”
Lovato lives that message. The singer has an impressive history of using her voice to speak out about weight shaming, whether it has to do with her body or not. Earlier this year the artist responded to a horrifying fat-shaming ad on Instagram promoting a game involving “obese” vs. “pretty” princesses. “This is absolutely harmful to anyone who is easily influenced by societal pressures put on us by diet culture to constantly be losing weight in a world that teaches us to equate our value and worth with the way we look and especially anyone in recovery from an eating disorder,” she wrote in January. “So please Instagram, keep this bullsh*t off mine and others’ feeds who could easily be affected by this disgusting advertisement. With how aware people are becoming of mental health and mental illnesses, I expect you guys to know better by allowing this advertisement to be allowed on your app. And shame on the game.”
As Lovato put it in her post, “Change is made by raising your voice, speaking your truth, and spreading love and compassion, not hate.”
