Jennifer Lawrence Talks Fat Shaming: 'It Should Be Illegal To Call Somebody Fat On TV'

by UInterviewDecember 18, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

Jennifer Lawrence admonishes the media for judging celebrities as ‘fat’ in a clip from her interview with Barbara Walters for “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013.”

Jennifer Lawrence Calls Out Fat Shaming

Lawrence, known for her honesty, frankness, as well as her non-skeleton like physique, didn’t hold back when asked why she was “sensitive” to the media name calling.

“I think when it comes to the media, the media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool, so then all of a sudden being funny is making fun of the girl who’s wearing an ugly dress,” Lawrence tells Walters.

Lawrence has often proclaimed herself as being a ‘fat actress’ in Hollywood, and makes a point to express her distaste for working out and dieting. In a recent interview, Lawrence recounted how hurt she was when someone in the industry criticized her body and told her she would be fired if she didn’t lose weight.

“Somebody told me I was fat, that I was going to get fired if I didn’t lose a certain amount of weight. They brought in pictures of me where I was basically naked, and told me to use them as motivation for my diet. It was just that. [Someone brought it up recently.] They thought that because of the way my career had gone, it wouldn’t still hurt me. That somehow, after I won an Oscar, I’m above it all. ‘You really still care about that?’ Yeah. I was a little girl. I was hurt. It doesn’t matter what accolades you get. I know it’ll never happen to me again. If anybody even tries to whisper the word ‘diet,’ I’m like, ‘You can go f—k yourself,” she said in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK.

'It Should Be Illegal To Call Somebody Fat On TV'

In her interview with Walters, Lawrence says she thinks it’s important for young girls, arguably the target audience for The Hunger Games series, to be shown a realistic body onscreen, instead of incredibly skinny, overly Photoshopped, unattainable ideals:

“I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV… I mean, if we’re regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words, because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren’t we regulating things like calling people fat?”

Lawrence, who currently stars in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and was recently nominated for a SAG award for her work in American Hustle, is just one of the celebrites chosen in Barbara Walter’s final “10 Most Fascinating People” special.

The special will also feature Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, the cast of Duck Dynasty, Edward Snowden, Robin Roberts, Pope Francis, Kate Middleton and Prince William’s baby son, Prince George and long distance swimmer Diana Nyad. Walters will reveal the identity of the last member of the list, the No. 1 most-fascinating person of 2013, when the show airs Wednesday, Dec. 18.