Popstar Ariana Grande has taken to TikTok to address fans that may or may not be well-meaning in their remarks concerning her appearance, particularly her body. She asked fans to be “gentler and less comfortable” with their remarks. 

Grande explained that her body is “paid such close attention to” that she felt the need to address some concerns of hers after comments surrounding her recent weight loss appeared.

She said that commenters were “comparing my current body” to “the unhealthiest version of my body.”

As she explained: “I was on a lot of antidepressants and drinking on them and eating poorly and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider me healthy, but that in fact wasn’t me healthy.

“I know I shouldn’t have to explain that, but I do feel like maybe having an openness and some sort of vulnerability here will [mean] something good might come from it. I don’t know but that’s the first thing. Healthy can look different.”

The popstar is no stranger to tragedy after her concert in Manchester Arena was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 22 people in May 2017. A year later, she had broken up with her partner, rapper Mac Miller, before he died just four months later at the age of 26.

“You never know what someone is going through,” said Grande. “Even if you are coming from a loving place and a caring place, that person probably is working on it or has a support system that they are working on it with. You never know. So be gentle with each other and with yourselves.” 

She isn’t the only celebrity explaining themselves in a similar fashion. Selena Gomez explained that her body has changed was due to her lupus medication causing her to retain water. 

“[I’m] not a model, never will be,” said Gomez but states that she would “much rather be healthy and take care of myself.”

Body shaming is nothing new for women. For decades, the media has pushed an unrealistic image of the female body and it has only been exacerbated by social media. The irony is that social media is also where body shaming is facing the most criticism.

Communities rally together to provide support as one social media user showed: “Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande shouldn’t have to go on a public platform to explain their weight gain/loss because of abhorrent criticism… It’s nasty, cruel and unfair especially today.”