Kathy Griffin, Bristol Palin & The Vicious Cycle Of Fatphobia
LatestWhen Kathy Griffin hosted VH1’s Divas Salute the Troops over the weekend, she joked that Bristol Palin had gained so much weight during Dancing With The Stars that she’d become the “white Precious.”
Kathy was booed for the jokes, and now, Bristol has responded to Kathy via Fox News.
“The audience’s reaction to this ‘comedian’ spoke volumes, and the decent people I know would probably have booed her, too… I hope people didn’t have to pay money to hear her negativity and criticisms.”
Above and beyond the negativity, the truth is, by mocking Bristol’s weight, Kathy just reveals her own insecurities. Kathy wore a bikini to the event, showing off what she called her “starvation body.” Even if it’s a joke, the root of it is unhealthy.
And as Hollie McKay writes for Fox News’s Pop Tarts:
Just last year, the Suddenly Susan star admitted that she fell prey to some serious body image issues while seeking out her “big break” in Hollywood. Not only did Griffin get a nose job at the age of 26 in an attempt to improve her appearance, in addition to liposuction that she claims almost killed her, she also reportedly exercised obsessively, starved herself during the day and binged at night.
In this situation, the 46-year-old woman mocking the 20-year-old woman’s body just feels like residual self-hatred, bubbling to the surface. Kathy may have become famous believing that a woman’s worth was directly tied to her appearance — that skinny and success go hand in hand — but that value system also drove her to a negative self-image. Turning that destructive fatphobia on Bristol, a woman of a younger generation, Kathy missed a chance to break the vicious body-hating cycle fueled by the entertainment industry. She should have made a joke about pre-marital sex: Something the troops could really cheer for.
EXCLUSIVE: Bristol Palin Responds to Kathy Griffin’s ‘Fat’ Attack [Fox News]
Related: Kathy Griffin Gets Booed By the Troops For Telling a Joke About Bristol Palin’s Weight