Kelly Clarkson and Serena Williams are speaking up about body shamers.
On a recent episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the singer invited the 39-year-old tennis star to talk about staying body positive and the importance of having zero tolerance for trolls.
Clarkson told Williams: ‘I’ve always had to stand strong for myself with my body image in the public eye, and I love that you’ve always done that. You are so body positive.’
‘It is so detrimental for people’s psyche’: Kelly Clarkson talked about hitting back against body shamers in a recent episode of her talk show
‘I love that you’ve always done that,’ the sports icon said in return. ‘It’s so cool. One time I think you went off on somebody. I was like, ‘Oh.’ I loved you for it.’
‘Was that the British chick?’ Clarkson asked, referring to English columnist Katie Hopkins who made a joke about her weight on Twitter in 2015.
At the time, Clarkson had no idea who the woman was and had to be told about the nasty comments from the notorious troll.
She told Heat magazine, after they explained who Hopkins was: ‘Oh, and she’s tweeted something nasty about me? That’s because she doesn’t know me. I’m awesome! It doesn’t bother me. It’s a free world. Say what you will.’
Setting an example: On a recent episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the singer invited Serena Williams to talk about her experiences with staying body positive
‘It’s so cool. One time I think you went off on somebody. I was like, ‘Oh.’ I loved you for it.’ Williams praised Clarkson for her hitting back at trolls
‘I loved you for it.’ Williams praised Clarkson for how she dealt with nasty comments from British columnist Katie Hopkins (pictured) back in 2015
‘I was like, “Look, I ain’t got time for you over the pond,” Clarkson told Williams. “I got enough people hating on me over here!”‘
‘You set ’em straight and I was like, “woah, don’t mess with her,” Williams said.
Clarkson, 38, went on to explain why she feels she has to stand up against body shaming – because of the potential damaging effects on young women.
‘What makes me mad about it, it’s honestly not how it’s said to me – it’s rude and obviously, nobody likes to hear it – but it’s because other women and other little girls are looking out there and they’re bigger than me and they’re going, “If they think she’s this way, then what does the world think of me?”‘
‘The domino effect of that is so detrimental for people’s psyche and especially nowadays with young women on social media … it’s just so hard’ Clarkson said about speaking out about the issue
Clarkson went on to explain why she feels she has to stand up against body shaming, because of the potential damaging effects on young women
She added, ‘The domino effect of that is so detrimental for people’s psyche and especially nowadays with young women on social media … it’s just so hard. So that’s actually what makes me mad… That’s why I feel like I have to keep talking about it every once in a while and stand up. I try to do it in a comedic way and keep it light. But well, sometimes you just gotta shut ’em down.’
‘Well I don’t think you kept it light,’ Williams laughed, perhaps referring to a different incident where Clarkson didn’t hold back. ‘That was not light, but whatever you say.’
Clarkson previously talked about getting negative comments about her weight while competing on American Idol in 2002.
She said in 2017: ‘Even on American Idol I was really thin, but I was bigger than the other girls on the show, so people would say things to me.
‘But luckily I am superconfident, so I’ve never had a problem with shutting people down and saying, “Yeah, you know, that’s just what I’m rocking. It’s fine.”‘
Clarkson previously talked about getting negative comments about her weight while competing on American Idol in 2002. She is pictured in a recent promo shot for The Voice