Jameela Jamil is facing backlash for saying Ariana Grande ‘is possibly dying right in front of us’ after the singer raised concerns with her alarmingly thin figure.
The actress and activist, 40, – who has spoken openly about her own previous struggles with anorexia – commented on the singer’s weight this weekend amid growing discourse about her health.
While Jameela meant well by her comments amid fans’ genuine concern for Ariana, 33, – who looked very thin in the new music video for Petal – she has received some backlash on social media, before she went on to clarify her comments.
Jameela wrote online: ‘This poor woman is possibly dying right in front of us. This outfit is designed to accentuate the thinness for discourse.
‘Her team are thoroughly irresponsible for not guiding her away from this deeply damaging image for her young fans to see so glamorized.’
After some were upset with Jameela’s comments she then in a later post defended herself saying she ‘prays that Ariana recovers’.
Those criticising Jameela responded saying: ‘She’s just projecting her past experiences on ariana, as if all bodies and disorders are the same.’,
Jameela Jamil is facing backlash for saying Ariana Grande ‘is possibly dying right in front of us’ after the singer raised concerns with her alarmingly thin figure
Ariana, 33, has raised concerns with her alarmingly thin figure in the new music video for Petal (seen)
Jameela wrote online: ‘This poor woman is possibly dying right in front of us. This outfit is designed to accentuate the thinness for discourse’
‘How many times has ariana said that comments about her body affect her deeply?? just accept her art and LET HER BE.’,
‘I think we SHOULD ALL STOP DISCUSSING HER BODY. we are not helping.’,
‘She has never not once in her life minded her own damn business.’,
‘Say this to her personally, don’t body shame her to get clout. She doesn’t know Ariana’s dynamic. She has family and friends, and this woman is making an uninformed statement about someone she doesn’t know.’,
‘Those who’ve struggled with weight know it doesn’t help when everyone has an opinion regardless of if they think it’s helping. Ariana has made it clear that comments about her body affect her deeply. Imo this should’ve been a private message to her personally or ppl close to her.’
Others said: ‘She’s right. Ariana fans will support her till there is nothing left of her.’,
‘She is right. I am not even a fan of ariana but i wish she gets healthy.’,
‘Honestly good for her for standing her ground. She’s not wrong.’
Jameela later went on to further explain the comments she had made as the backlash grew, saying she felt ‘extremely bad for Ariana having almost died of anorexia myself’.
She penned on her Instagram Story as she attempted to clarify her ‘dying right in front of us comment’, saying: ‘I said possibly. My god. And my point stands, that this is deeply irresponsible for all the people involved to deliver this aesthetic as glamorous to the many billions of girls and women consuming this imagery.
‘Trying to use this as a b**ch fight is DISGUSTING and missing the point. Making you part of the problem. I feel extremely bad for Ariana having almost died of anorexia myself. And it was only due to the people around me intervening INSENSITIVELY once I willfully ignored (and sort of enjoyed) their careful concern, that l survived. I don’t know Ariana and pray she recovers.
‘I don’t think she’s in the comments sections of tiny posts, but young girls watching are, and we need to signal to THEM that this is not the time to pretend this is ok, just because ‘we shouldn’t talk about other people’s bodies.’
Those criticising Jameela responded saying: ‘She’s just projecting her past experiences on ariana, as if all bodies and disorders are the same’
Jameela later went on to further explain the comments she had made as the backlash grew, saying she felt ‘extremely bad for Ariana having almost died of anorexia myself’
She went on to post more on her Story as she spoke about how anorexia is the number one killer of any mental health disorder
The Wicked star is pictured in 2020 (left) and in her Petal music video (right)
‘This is the same imagery we are allowed to respond to with sadness and horror when it’s on a child in Gaza. We do not pretend then that it is not appropriate to comment on how thin they are. We don’t have to pretend we are blind because it’s a pop star. Everyone is killing her by normalizing this.
‘Silence is complicity when it gets this far. Look at Karen Carpenter. The accentuating of the thinness with the outfit, is how we can guess this is likely not some physical ailment. This is a statement. One that can harm little girls everywhere. Which I don’t think she would ever want for them. Are we waiting for a star to die before we admit the beauty standard is out of control?’
Ariana sparked fears around her extreme weight loss after the release of her shocking new music video Petal last week.
The singer has publicly insisted that she’s healthy, but that didn’t stop fans from pointing out how incredibly gaunt she looks in the violent music video.
In the bizarre video, Ariana plays the character of Pepper, an aspiring starlet who attends multiple auditions in a bid to become famous.
After failing yet another audition, a group of studio bigwigs brand Ariana ‘unmarketable’, ‘unattractive’, and ‘inauthentic,’ before accusing her of having a personality disorder.
‘We miss the old you,’ one tells her. ‘Maybe you could go out and find her and come back and give it another shot?’
Ariana leaves, only to return moments later with a chainsaw, which she uses to violently dismember the men.
Drenched in blood, she returns to the waiting room, only to receive a round of rapturous applause from the other female auditionees.
Despite the clever social commentary in the video, many fans were more distracted by Ariana’s weight than anything else.
‘This is like looking at Karen Carpenter and everyone was like [shrug],’ wrote one fan.
‘I am actually so over us normalizing this and acting like this is okay,’ wrote a second.
‘Shocking and heartbreaking,’ wrote a third, while a fourth added, ‘For the love of God, please eat something.’
Another wrote: ‘Her bones are literally popping out.’
Despite the concerned comments, other fans defended the singer and said that it was inappropriate to comment on her physical appearance.
‘If y’all actually cared about her you wouldn’t be publicly making comments about her body,’ argued one.
‘The irony of all the girls over 200 pounds saying she’s ‘unhealthy’. You think being 200 pounds is healthy? Good lord, the jealousy is screaming from you guys!’ wrote another.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Ariana’s management for comment.
She released her eighth studio album, Petal, on Friday.
American singer and actress Ariana announced on Sunday, via a statement from her team, that she plans to take a break following her current tour amid struggles with ‘ongoing public scrutiny’ over her appearance.
She is currently on her Eternal Sunshine tour and plans to step back from the public eye when it wraps in London on September 1.
Jameela’s comments about Ariana come shortly after she said ‘British people are the most evil people in history’ as she admonished her fellow compatriots in an anti-colonial podcast tirade.
‘Americans think British people are so sweet, which is crazy, because British people are truly the most evil people in history,’ declared the California-based actress, adding: ‘Britain is like Thanos [the genocidal Marvel Comics villain]… we colonised the world.’
Speaking on the US podcast Yestergays, The Good Place star revealed how she ‘butted heads’ with the NBC comedy drama’s director, American Michael Schur, because he wanted to make her wealthy British character Tahani Al-Jamil ‘more likeable’.
She said: ‘I was, like, ‘British people, especially rich British people, aren’t likeable to anyone, they’re horrible, they’re awful’… he went with the passive aggressive b****y version.’
Jameela attended £32,000-a-year Queen’s College school in London’s Marylebone, whose alumnae include Vogue supremo Anna Wintour and actress Jane Asher.
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