Justice

Chrissy Teigen Nails Why Comedian Nicole Arbour is No Victim

September 11th 2015

Canadian comedian Nicole Arbour made headlines all week for her fat-shaming video "Dear Fat People," which has received more than 25 million views on Facebook. Many found the clip offensive, and now body positive role model Chrissy Teigen is speaking out against it as well.

In "Dear Fat People," Arbour tries to say that fat people need to eat healthier and exercise for their own good, but she does it in a very cruel way by making fun of how she perceives overweight people look and smell.

RELATED: The Internet Reacted to This Woman's Viral Fat Shaming Video

In an interview with People, Teigen, who posted an Instagram photo of her stretch marks earlier this year to show her fans that even celebrities aren't physically perfect and have insecurities sometimes, alludes to the fact that Arbour's YouTube channel was temporarily suspended when the video was going viral.

Teigen says this is an issue because it gave Arbour an opportunity to play the victim and say she was being censored.

"Now she thinks she's being silenced too," Teigen says. "That's the new great part."

Teigen also said that it's a shame that Arbour is rewarded for her behavior with so much media coverage and exposure.

RELATED: Chrissy Teigen Continues to Be a Body Positive Role Model

"Yes, Nicole, there is such a thing as fat-shaming, and you're doing it right now," Teigen said. "The worst thing about about the Nicole Arbour thing is this has made her head even bigger somehow. On her Twitter and social media, she is living for this moment... We've just given her this platform to feel like her opinion does matter. So, no matter if we're talking negatively about it or positively, she's winning, that's the worst part about it. Also why just be mean unnecessarily? What are you benefiting from this?"

 

Nicole Arbour's response to the backlash

Arbour, who was criticized by a slew of other public figures aside from Teigen, justified her video in an interview with TIME by saying we all need to lighten up in this world.

“I feel it’s really important that we make fun of everybody,” she told TIME. “I think [what] brings us together and unites us as people is that we can poke fun at all of us. I find seeing someone’s head being blown off offensive. I find children starving in a country with more than enough food offensive. I find women’s bodies being mutilated for religious purposes, that is offensive to me. But words and satire I don’t find offensive.”

How "Dear Fat People" cost Nicole Arbour a job

As it turns out, many people were hurt by the "words and satire" that Arbour does not consider offensive. In fact, "Dear Fat People" just got Arbour fired from her choreography gig for an anti-bullying dance film "Don't Talk to Irene." Director Pat Mills told Zap2It in a new interview that Arbour's "Dear Fat People" video made him "never want to see her again."

“[‘Dear Fat People’] is an unfunny and cruel fat-shaming video that guises itself about being about ‘health,'" Mills said. “It’s fat phobic and awful. It went on for over for six minutes. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I was so upset I was shaking like Shelley DuVall in the "The Shining.""

He added that Arbour's video goes against the film's message and is an example of why the movie has to be made in the first place.

“It’s a body-positive teen dance movie set in a retirement home,” Mills said. “It’s about a 16-year-old girl who dreams of being a cheerleader, but she is constantly bullied for being fat. She learns that she doesn’t have to change anything about herself to be awesome because she already is... Bullies like Nicole Arbour are the reason I am making this movie. I’m tired of body shaming. It’s everywhere.”

RELATED: Women Are Sharing Pictures of Their Thighs for An Important Reason

Here are some Twitter reactions to "Dear Fat People."

Share your opinion

Do you think fat-shaming is a form of discrimination?

No 13%Yes 87%