Trisha Paytas is reacting to online scrutiny over Ariana Grande’s body.
“I do feel the internet is getting so comfortable talking about bodies, but specifically women’s bodies,” Paytas, 38, said in a Sunday, August 3, TikTok video after it was announced that Grande will no longer take part in a West End production of the musical Sunday in the Park With George next year.
According to Paytas, “Fat people or even larger or even like midsize-to-larger people have always been getting the body-shaming,” but she said “body-checking” of people with smaller physiques is becoming “more intense.”
Grande’s appearance in her “Petal” music video, released on Friday, July 31, elicited a fresh round of commentary about her body, Paytas noted. “So many people have talked about her new ‘Petal’ video where you see her collarbones, her chest bones,” she said. “Is it alarming? Is it shocking? Yes. I don’t know necessarily if we need to be commenting on it as much as we are.”
Paytas stressed that she was not specifically “talking about Ariana in this case” but that commentary about people’s physiques is unhelpful.
“Like, it’s clear, right?” she said of people who appear “extremely thin.”
“It’s clear to everyone and the people around them,” the podcaster continued. “It can be really hard to admit there’s a problem to yourself, to the public, to your fans. I assure you, if that person has a problem, they’re aware.”
“People who were always thin who then get thinner and thinner and thinner … they’re aware even if they have body dysmorphia. Like, they’re fully aware ‘cause it’s all their mind thinks about,” Paytas said.
She went on, “I just don’t think [commenting on people’s bodies] helps either way. It doesn’t help them want to get help, it doesn’t help them want to stop the problem. So many times when people say, ‘Oh, you look sick,’ or ‘We see your bones’ … it’s almost like encouraging, enabling that issue, if that makes sense.”
“So I just think this commenting on bodies just overall needs to stop if they’re not talking about it,” Paytas said. “If people are not acknowledging weight loss, transformation surgeries, GLP-1s, whatever, then it’s not really up for grabs to comment on, in my opinion. ‘Cause I just think it helps no one.”
On Sunday, Grande’s representative announced that the Grammy winner will “step back” from the spotlight after she wraps her Eternal Sunshine Tour. Her rep said she would be taking “a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
Grande’s tour concludes on September 1 in London.
If you or someone you know struggles with an eating disorder, visit the National Eating Disorders (NEDA) website or call their hotline at (800) 931-2237 to get help.
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