Megyn Kelly Faces Backlash Over Pro-Fat-Shaming Remarks

She later attempted to walk back those comments
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 13, 2018 10:21 AM CST
Megyn Kelly Faces Backlash Over Pro-Fat-Shaming Remarks
In this Sept. 21, 2017 file photo, Megyn Kelly poses on the set of "Megyn Kelly Today" at NBC Studios in New York.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

"Some of us want to be shamed," Women's Health quotes Megyn Kelly as saying Thursday while discussing fat-shaming on Today. "When I was in law school, I was gaining weight," Kelly recounted. "I said to my stepfather, 'If you see me go into that kitchen one more time, you say 'Where you going, fat ass?' And it worked!" She also suggested her guest, Maria Kang, turn fat-shaming into a business. Kelly's comments, understandably, didn't go over well with some people—Meghan McCain on The View called them hurtful and "dangerous"—and Kelly attempted to walk back the comments by opening up about her relationship with her own weight on Friday's show, USA Today reports.

On Friday Kelly said "I absolutely do not support" fat-shaming and "would never encourage that toward any person." She added that her entire family "is or has been overweight or obese," and when she was in school bullies "called me fat, and made fun of my backside, [and] subjected me to humiliating pranks," People reports. Kelly said it still makes her "cringe when I hear a person attacked for his or her weight." She went on to talk about being "so unhappy" while taking diet pills and only eating 500 calories a day to get thin. "Weight is an issue for millions of people, thin and heavy alike," Kelly said. "And neither deserves to be judged or shamed for how they choose to handle that struggle.” (More Megyn Kelly stories.)

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