Tag: body shaming

  • Mathira condemns Omer Adil’s body-shaming jokes, reveals reasons behind weight fluctuations

    Mathira condemns Omer Adil’s body-shaming jokes, reveals reasons behind weight fluctuations

    Model, actress, and TV host Mathira responded strongly to critics of her body shape, explaining that medical problems have caused changes in her appearance.
    A viral video on social media shows Mathira delivering a sharp reply to critics and YouTubers who made inappropriate comments about her size.
    In the video, Dr. Omer Adil is heard commenting on Mathira’s size, claiming she “hasn’t had fillers or Botox, but something else.” He also makes inappropriate remarks about women’s sizes.

    Mathira dismissed his remarks as nonsense, expressing disappointment and embarrassment over the inappropriate comments made by two individuals regarding her size.

    “I have other medical problems including thyroid, due to which my body structure has changed.”

    Mathira further wrote, “I am proud of my weight and body shape, and I am proud of all such women. But some ignorant men will not understand this, and it is a failed attempt to gain people’s attention by talking about women’s size. Will continue to do.”
    Even before this issue, Mathira had discussed her height and weight several times.

  • Mariam Ansari talks about ‘mental breakdown’ after social media backlash

    Mariam Ansari talks about ‘mental breakdown’ after social media backlash

    Mariam Ansari gave an interview to BBC Urdu titled “How to deal with body shaming and negative comments during pregnancy” which featured interviews from several women on how they dealt with bullying during pregnancy.

    The actress opened up about the backlash she recieved for her a pregnancy photoshoot. Ansari and her husband did a photoshoot to reveal the birth of their baby daughter Amaya Khan. Trolls then shamed her for openly displaying her baby bump. Mariam shut down the comments in a video clip posted on Instagram stories by expressing her outrage:

    “It’s my profile; my choice. I’ve even had my child. It’s my choice whatever I post. If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t follow me. I don’t understand, since when is being pregnant some sort of badtameezi or behayai. You too were born just like this, so what?”

    READ MORE: Mariam Ansari is not okay with holier-than-thou comments on her pregnancy shoot

    Ansari told BBC Urdu the comments demoralised her:

    “There are a lot of comments slamming me by saying this was western culture, to which I responded don’t Muslim women have babies..it felt like the happiest moment of my life was turned into something shameful.”

    She eventually had to deactivate her Instagram account because of hateful comments she recieved.

    “I broke down emotionally. I became very vulnerable,” the actress recalled.

  • ‘Comedy should be done on the expense of others’: Ahmed Ali Butt

    ‘Comedy should be done on the expense of others’: Ahmed Ali Butt

    Actor and former singer Ahmed Ali Butt has released the first episode of his podcast series ‘Excuse Me’, featuring comedian and host of ‘Hasna Mana Hai’, Tabish Hashmi. A clip from the episode is going viral in which Tabish opened up about the time he performed stand- up comedy in colleges, stating that the main purpose of such events was to pick people from crowds and mock something about them.

    “This was 2009-2010, we were all misogynist, mocking people for skin tone, body shaming them and even for short height,” remarked the comedian. “We didn’t know what we were doing was wrong.”

    To which, Ahmed Ali Butt responded that this kind of comedy was not wrong at all, elaborating:

    “I don’t think such a thing as this is wrong. Comedy is always done at the expense of others. Otherwise you shouldn’t do comedy at all.”

    Watch the complete clip here

  • Mariam Ansari is not okay with holier-than-thou comments on her pregnancy shoot

    Mariam Ansari is not okay with holier-than-thou comments on her pregnancy shoot

    Kuch behtar nahi hai apni zindagi mein karne kay liye than to think that a happy pregnant woman is doing something wrong with her life?

    Pakistanis are used to watching unhappy women both on screens and in their lives. When they watch a woman celebrating a pregnancy or being happy in her marriage, they see it as a sign that she needs to be reminded of how miserable life actually is.

    When actress Mariam Ansari shared pictures of her pregnancy shoot announcing the birth of her daughter, several commentators were overjoyed and congratulated the couple. Then there were those who thought qayamat has started early because a woman shared her baby bump on the internet.

    There were A LOT of absurd comments shaming the actress for sharing pictures of her baby bump, a normal thing every woman goes through. Like this one cynic wrote:

    “Allah ko kia muh Deko ge behn Kuch cheze prde mei ache lgte he tm log ku apna Deen khrb kr rhe ho behaye phla rhe ho kuch shrm kro Allah se dro.”

    Pregnancy is a natural, beautiful thing that happens to every woman, baji. Wo kya gunah kar rahi hai kay wo isko chupa kar rakhay?

    Mariam eventually responded with a video where she slammed the haters in a video, expressing her frustration at the unnecessary hate piled on to her for simply sharing pictures of her baby bump:

     “Oh my god, the amount of hate I have received on my pregnancy pictures just shows…what do I even say? What do I say?”

     “It’s my profile; my choice. I’ve even had my child. It’s my choice whatever I post. If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t follow me. I don’t understand, since when is being pregnant some sort of badtameezi or behayai. You too were born just like this, so what?”

    The actress also pointed out how hypocrtical Pakistani society was:

     “You’ll watch Katrina Kaif dance, you’ll ‘like’ Nora’s pictures. But if a Pakistani actress who is fully dressed reveals her pregnancy, then, ‘oh my god, Astaghfirullah.’ I mean, if you were really all that great and you saw someone was pregnant, you’d congratulate them; you’d send prayers their way.”

    Sending our prayers and congratulations to Mariam and her husband for their bundle of joy, and honestly we hope Pakistani society could learn some manners and stop poking their hypocritical noses into anyone’s business.

  • Moammar Rana’s wife says Nadir Ali responsible for comments made by her husband

    Moammar Rana’s wife says Nadir Ali responsible for comments made by her husband

    Lollywood A-lister Moammar Rana made headlines two days ago when a clip from his interview with controversial host Nadir Ali went viral. In the clip, Rana criticised Indian actress Priyanka Chopra’s looks, stating that crush on her ended after seeing her in real life.

    The comment was slammed by social media users for being degrading and sexist. The duo also called the actress a ‘maid’. Actress and television host Mathira slammed Nadir Ali in a post on her Instagram stories

    A user on X, formerly known as Twitter wrote:

    “Nadir Ali & his equally vile guest Moammar Rana made deeply offensive rac1st & elitist comments on @priyankachopra comparing her to a ‘maid’ owing to her complexion. Domestic workers are beautiful, Ms. Chopra is an achiever but the minds of these 2 failed men are HORRIBLY UGLY.”

    Now, the actor’s wife Mehnaz has stepped in to defend her husband in a lengthy statement on her Instagram stories, pointing out that it was the controversial Youtube host who had made the disgusting comments about the Indian actress, not her husband.

    “It’s not as big of a deal as much as people are making it, as usual. Moammar never commented on her skin tone/complexion as the host tried really hard to make him comment on that, simply saying he couldn’t recognise her as screen beauty is totally different. I don’t see any of our beloved Pakistanis speaking up against her comments on Pakistan and Kashmir while she’s a “human rights activist” as much as you guys are siding with her on this statement, Moammar simply couldn’t recognise her and honestly sharing his experience with the host about it, he’s not responsible for the hosts comments. it’s being taken out of context as you all can see the host was looking for a controversy and got one. Thanday hojayein, much love and peace??”

  • Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Pop singer Lizzo has been sued by former backup dancers of her troupe for sexual harassment, unprofessionalism and body shaming. In the suit filed earlier this month, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez detailed instances of being shamed for weight gain, being coerced into touching nude dancers.

    On Wednesday, Lizzo’s lawyer said in a statement sent to The Independent, that the singer was now counter suing the dancers for ‘malicious content’, describing the lawsuit as a sham.

    The statement included photos of the three plaintiffs Davis, Williams and Rodriguez with “the performers after the topless cabaret show at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris” on 5 March, 2023. In their lawsuit, the dancers had claimed they were not informed by Lizzo that the dancers performing would be naked, “robbing them of the choice not to participate”.

    The plaintiff’s also described Lizzo pressurising cast members to take turns touching the nude performers “catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas”.

    However, Lizzo’s statement said the images released show the plaintiff’s happily spending time in the club they had complained about in the lawsuit:

    “These images showing the three plaintiffs gleefully revelling backstage after the topless show were taken after their February 2023 visit to Bananenbar in Amsterdam that they complain about in their lawsuit.”

    Neema Rahmani, representing the three dancers in the lawsuit, responded to the images, and said they had previously addressed all the instances where the plaintiff’s appeared to be happy alongside Lizzo, during the time the

    “Of course, they wanted to keep their jobs. They had bills to pay just like everyone else but they finally had enough of the abuse. We stand by every claim in the lawsuit and look forward to trial.

    “We’ve been hearing from other former employees sharing similar stories, and as seen in the Los Angeles Times article today about how Lizzo used intimate footage of her dancers without their approval in the 2022 HBO Max Love Lizzo documentary, we’re seeing even more of a pattern of just how much Lizzo thinks of those who work for her. Clearly, not very much.”

    Furthermore, Rahmani slammed the singer’s statement as an “empty threat” and said they were ready to meet the lawyer and his client in the courtroom because they had no plans of backing down.

    “I’ve handled thousands of cases, including prosecuting drug cartels so we have no plans to back down. Let’s see if Singer can actually try a case in a courtroom instead of the media,” said Rahmani.

  • ‘A patient revealed she was kicked out of her house by her husband because of her stretch marks’: Shaista Lodhi

    ‘A patient revealed she was kicked out of her house by her husband because of her stretch marks’: Shaista Lodhi

    Actress and aesthetic physician Shaista Lodhi appeared as a guest on the ‘The Talk Talk Show’ where she spoke about her career as an aesthetic physician, who provides cosmetic medical surgeries to celebrities, politicians and the general public. She spoke about the dark side of her career, revealing that young women and girls come to her after being bullied by men about their features.

    The ‘Samjhota’ actress said that many young girls and women visited her clinic led by insecurity about their features, after their husbands send them pictures.

    “Those pictures were given to them by their fiancés,” revealed Shahista. “Then I tell them that they should get rid of this man first. Can you imagine? It’s such an insult for a man to tell you to look like this woman.”

    Shahista shared another horrifying instance where a patient came with her husband, who jokingly asked the surgeon to make his wife look like her. The actress recalled feeling outraged and wanting to lash out at the man.

    “You can see the way women are treated in our society,” lamented the ‘Pardes’ actress. “That girl was sitting in a corner and politely laughing while I wanted to slap him right away. But that woman kept silent, even though it must be torturous for her to stay with such a man who keeps taunting her with things like ‘Tumharay baal hain’, ‘tumharay boaht ziada baal hain’..”

    Shahista Lodhi said women are consistently scrutinized and made to feel inferior because of their looks, and bullied by their in-laws over things like their skin coloror body type. She went on to point out that these things don’t prove that there is a problem with women, but it is men who have complexes.

    Shahista further stressed that if people want to get plastic surgery, they should, but never at the cost of their insecurities.

    When asked about she deals with women coming to her wanting to change features, Shahista spoke about the time a woman came to her clinic asking to remove her stretch marks because she was kicked out her house- which completely shocked the actress.

    “Three days ago a woman came to me and said she recently delivered a baby, and her husband kicked her out of the house because of her stretch marks. And the woman had been staying at her mother’s house for the past 20 days.

    “I tried in any way I could to console her and tell her she’s earned this. Allah made you a gift, and you’re not alone in this. How could a man tell you this!”

    Shahista re-called the woman begging her to fix her marks so she might save her marriage, and the actress said “If you think fixing your stretch marks would save your marriage, then its better such a union never happened!”

    Kudo’s to Shahista for taking such a powerful standard against imposing such beauty standards on women- and reminding them that its not worth fixing a marriage where you are imposed into taking such measures.

  • ‘Made In Heaven’ comes back with a bang in second season, critics praise sinister take on Big Fat Indian Wedding

    ‘Made In Heaven’ comes back with a bang in second season, critics praise sinister take on Big Fat Indian Wedding

    Warning: spoilers if you havent seen season 1

    Eid came a little too early for social media users when on August 10, the much awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime series ‘Made In Heaven’ released online. The nine episode drama focuses on the lives of Delhi wedding planners Tara and Karan, as they attempt to build a brand name for themselves in the cut-throat world of India’s wedding industry.

    Created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, the season was lauded for the powerful performances by Sobhita Dhulipala and Arjun Mathur, as well as for boldly bringing to light issues like cast prejudice and sexual assault.

    This time, the second season promised to be quite a show-stopper as Karan decides to stop living in shame because of his sexual orientation and Tara decides to take her ex-husband Adil to court to get a good settlement in divorce. The two were left grappling with loss as their business is torn to shreds after a mob attacks it because of Karan’s support to decriminalize homosexuality. And critics, along with social media, had to agree, kay dair aye laikan drust aye.

    Indian drama critics have praised the show for delivering beyond their expectations, and bringing the four year long restlessness to a solid conclusion. The Indian Express praised the show-stopping performances by Sobhita, Jim Sarbh and Marthur, praising the skills with which Akhtar, Kagti and their collaborators “detail their characters and fill them in with specificity, reflect a sense of inner knowledge and empathy, which makes you curious about what’s going on behind their perfect exteriors.”

    If the first season was praised for addressing bold themes like same sex relationships, infidelity and ageism, NDTV commented that the new season dwleves even deeper by casting a transgender actor to play a career woman who has had a gender-reassignment surgery and is proud of being in her own skin.

    Writing for Film Companion, Rahul Desai praised Made In Heaven for remaining “a rare series that isn’t afraid to present its characters as paradoxical and unlikable.”

  • ‘I’m not a villain’: Lizzo responds to harassment claims, dancers reject her statement

    ‘I’m not a villain’: Lizzo responds to harassment claims, dancers reject her statement

    Pop singer Lizzo has been mired in a huge controversy since a few days ago when a suit filed by her former dancers accused her of bullying, sexual harassment and body shaming. The three dancers detailed their experience of being fired after being accused of gaining weight, unprofessional working environments as well as being pressurised into controversial activities.

    In a statement released on her social media accounts, the Grammy award winning singer has responded to the suit, calling the stories “sensationalised”, adding that the former employees had already admitted their behavior on tour was unprofessional:

    “These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”

    ‘I am not here to be looked at as a victim but I also know I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be the last few days…There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.”

    READ MORE: Lizzo sued after three former dancers accuse her of sexual harassment, unprofessional behavior

    The statement was slammed by dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez who spoke to UK’s Channel 4 about the 44 page lawsuit they filed against the ‘Good as hell’ singer, and her dance captain Shirlene Quigley.

    “Initially for me, it just further deepened my disappointment in regards to how I was feeling and how I was treated,” Williams said. “I think the overall theme in all this is that our experiences were our experiences and our traumas were our traumas. In bringing that forward, it feels like it was disregarded completely. It feels like we were made out to be putting out false allegations when that’s not the case.”

    “So yes, it was very disheartening to read and feel overlooked especially when she stands for what she stands for in regards to women’s empowerment – being an advocate for mental health, being an advocate for body positivity – and to just further prove that that’s not the case, because nothing was acknowledged in that statement,” the former dancer further added.

    Speaking to CBS News, Davis elaborated on the Amsterdam accident, when Lizzo had taken the backup dancers to a strip club and pressurised Angela to grope the nude dancer, then forced a security guard member to go on stage and strip. She described the situation as ‘mortifying’:

    “I did not ask for it. I said no multiple times,” Davis said.

    After facing intense pressure from Lizzo, she “briefly touched” the performer. “I was very, very mortified, everyone burst into laughter,” she recalled.

    In the lawsuit, it was also mentioned that Lizzo body-shamed the dancers, firing one of them after commenting that she seemed “less committed” about the role.

    Arianna told NBC that the fatphobia comments weren’t spoken directly, but underlined every criticism she was given:

    “It was very nuanced and very underlying underneath all the other issues that were going on,” Davis explained. “I just had this feeling that they had a problem with the way I was gaining weight and looking different and that I wasn’t ‘the same’ as when they first cast me.”

    Attorney Neama Rahmani, who is representing Davis, Williams and Rodriguez in the lawsuit, addressed Lizzo’s statement and said the case will be moved to trial to prove whether what the pop singer is saying is true:

    “Given Lizzo is denying that any of this happened, let’s take it to trial. More witnesses are coming forward every day corroborating the plaintiffs’ allegations, so we’re looking forward to facing Lizzo and her team in court.”

    Lizzo’s lawyer representing her at the trial is Marty Singer, whose previous clients include Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen, Chris Brown and Jonah Hill.

  • Lizzo sued after three former dancers accuse her of sexual harassment, unprofessional behavior

    Lizzo sued after three former dancers accuse her of sexual harassment, unprofessional behavior

    Grammy award winning singer Lizzo was sued by former dancers in her troupe for sexual harassment, hostile work environment and body shaming.

    In a lawsuit filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court, three former dancers accused Lizzo, and the captain of her dance team Shirlene Quigley, for religious harassment, body shaming. In one of the incidents cited in the suit, after a performance at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival, dancer Arianna Davis was told that she seemed ‘less committed’ to her role- a comment which thinly suggested she needed to lose weight.

    Another dancer was scolded after the singer called to attention their weight gain, and later fired the same dancer after she had recorded a meeting because of a health condition.

    “The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing,” Zambrano said in a statement.

    Lizzo has been open about embracing body diversity, releasing several songs like ‘Good as hell’ and ‘Juice’, which encouraged women to love their curves as they are.

    The suit described how the dancers were put in uncomfortable positions including an Amsterdam trip to a strip club, where Lizzo allegedly pressurised the cast members to touch the nude performers, including Ms. Davis despite her reluctance. When Davis obliged and briefly touched the performer, the crowd began laughing. Afterwards, Lizzo pushed a member of the security staff on the stage and began yelling ‘take it off!’, according to the staff present.

    “Plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people whom she employed,” the suit detailed.

    A week later, after a performance in Paris, the suit reveals the dancers were invited by Lizzo to a club, but they were shocked to discover that it was actually a nude cabaret bar.

    The suit said the plaintiffs were “shocked that Lizzo would conceal the nature of the event from them, robbing them of the choice not to participate.”

    The suit also described the instances of racial and religious harassment dancers had faced, who were the sole women of color present in the group. On one instance, a former dancer requested 50% compensation for her downtime, and the accountant began scolding her for being “unacceptable and disrespectful” and instead offered 25%.

    “Only the dance cast — comprised of full-figured women of color — were ever spoken to in this manner,” the claim stated.

    Dancers were also subjected to pressure to convert to Christianity by the dance captain, Quigley, who preached her Christian beliefs and “took every opportunity to proselytize to any and all in her presence regardless of protestations.” Several cast members asked her to stop pressurising the dancer Rodriguez about her faith, whom Quigley described as a ‘non-believer’, the accused had responded:

    “No job and no one will stop me from talking about the Lord.”

    Lizzo has not responded to the lawsuit, but several other public figures since then have come forward with accusations of rude behavior and unprofessionalism from the pop singer. Filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison shared that she dropped out as director for Lizzo’s documentary in 2019, citing rudeness from the ‘Cuz I Love You’ singer.

    Lizzo’s former creative director, along with another former dancer, had sent their support to the dancers who had filed the lawsuit against the ‘Juice’ singer.