Fans of singer Ariana Grande had been concerned recently after she lost weight and her face appeared different. Photo: Ariana Grande/TikTok
American singer Ariana Grande has called out body shamers in a TikTok clip which has gone viral.
In the three-minute video shared on Tuesday, the 29-year-old spoke candidly about her body and mental health.
“I don’t do this often. I don’t like it. I’m not good at it. But I just wanted to address your concerns about my body and talk a little bit about what it means to be a person with a body and to be seen and to be paid such close attention to,” she said at the start of the clip, which racked up more than 40 million views within 12 hours.
Fans had been concerned recently after she lost weight and her face appeared different. In the video, she is seen with simple make-up and her hair is pulled back from her face.
“There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful. And for me, the body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body,” she said.
She added: “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 my healthy, but that, in fact, wasn’t my healthy.”
She had previously shared about suffering from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder following a bombing at her concert in Manchester in 2017. A suicide bomber had set off an explosive device as people were leaving the venue, killing 23 people and injuring more than 1,000. Grande was unhurt.
The star, who has 31.1 million followers on TikTok, also called on netizens to be more mindful when commenting on social media. “I think we could be, I think we should be, gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what,”she said.
“If you think you’re saying something good or well-intentioned, whatever it is – healthy, unhealthy, big, small, this, that, sexy, not sexy – we just shouldn’t. We should really work towards not doing that as much.”
She ended her video by saying: “I think you’re beautiful no matter what you’re going through – no matter what weight, no matter how you like to do your make-up, no matter what cosmetic procedures you’ve had or not, or anything. I just think you’re beautiful and wanted to share some feelings.” – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
