Actor and body positivity activist Jameela Jamil is facing online backlash for her call-out of CupcakKe's weight loss method.
For a little context, over the weekend CupcakKe informed fans that she had done a water fast for the past month, alongside two new photos.
Water fast for past month & here’s my results pic.twitter.com/8ezttmGOFZ
— CupcakKe (@CupcakKe_rapper) November 17, 2019
And though reactions were varied, Jamil's response telling CupcakKe what to do didn't sit well with a lot of people.
Please take this down. Most people reading this may not have the medical supervision or extensive knowledge needed to even TRY to attempt this safely. The dangers are immense, and it will harm your metabolism, so isn’t even an effective tool for weight loss. It’s just very unsafe
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) November 17, 2019
"Please take this down," Jamil wrote. "Most people reading this may not have the medical supervision or extensive knowledge needed to even TRY to attempt this safely. The dangers are immense, and it will harm your metabolism, so isn't even an effective tool for weight loss. It's just very unsafe."
However, given that many experts say that shaming behaviors is an unhelpful practice in cases like this — let alone on a highly-visible, public scale, many thought the message would've been more appropriate as a DM. Meanwhile, others wondered if Jamil took into consideration that CupcakKe has recently been going through some other personal struggles.
on blast is the best idea. i know she’s a big celeb and trust me seeing the way her fans were praising her in the comments literally made me sick to my stomach. but sometimes i feel like we have to look a little more closely at the situation before calling them out publicly (2/2)
— 🎄✨ merry chrislie ✨🎄 (@chrislieeeee) November 17, 2019
I'll add to Jameela: one of the biggest things experts tell loved ones of eating disorder sufferers is that shaming behaviors is counterproductive.
— nina serven thinks you suck (@NinaConCafeina) November 18, 2019
When you shamed Cupcakke, you may have poisoned her recovery AND the recovery of ED sufferers who saw your tweet.
Be better.
Not only that, but as noted by BET, many online also pointed out that the issue of eating disorders is a particularly nuanced one for Black women — something that Jamil completely missed with her response.
Jameela Jamil going off on CupcaKke is just so horrible. You see a Black woman who’s clearly struggling and your response is to call her “dangerous.” Why are Black women not allowed to just be struggling? Why do our personal struggles get interpreted as a danger to the public
— nylah burton (@yumcoconutmilk) November 18, 2019
Clearly Jameela has no empathy for black women, considering that this is a pattern. And yet nonblack folks continue to stan her and applaud her for being a shitty person. As a fat black girl with an eating disorder and EDS, I am so disappointed with how Jameela handled this.
— aster (@aster41837949) November 18, 2019
Because a she, Jameela decided that woman, a black woman with on record mental health issues was a danger to feminism because a fad diet. And this was not the first time she has over stepped her boundaries with black women.
— Fatter in Person. (@Jazzyrae6) November 18, 2019
As writer Clarkisha Kent pointed out in her initial Twitter thread and subsequent piece for WearYourVoice, the "MULTIPLE beauty standards we are up against and expected to live up to" were not taken into consider within Jamil's critique.
Not only that, but the actor also completely ignored "the adversarial relationship [Black women] are taught to have with our bodies from nigh-infancy only to have it exploited and spit back at us later in life" — something that further reinforces the idea that "if CupcakKe were a White woman, this convo would look different."
Eating disorders look different on Black women and the conversation is wildly different when it comes to us.
— Clarkisha Kent (@IWriteAllDay_) November 18, 2019
Period.
Because if you are NOT a Black woman, you also don’t fucking have the fucking range for a this conversation that DEMANDS to be COMMUNITY-SPECIFIC because of the MULTIPLE beauty standards we are up against and expected to live up to.
— Clarkisha Kent (@IWriteAllDay_) November 18, 2019
In response to the criticism, Jamil apologized to CupcakKe for "putting you on blast without knowing anything about u."
"Having now learned of your personal struggles, I realize I should have done more to protect you rather than bring you stress," she wrote. "This goes beyond not just being so careless as to quote tweet someone whose context and life you're unaware of. But also, being extra careful to not pile on to Black women, who are already piled onto, ignored and policed the most. I hear all the criticism. I see my fuck up."
2/3 This goes beyond not just being so careless as to quote tweet someone whose context and life you’re unaware of. But also, being extra careful to not pile on to black women, who are already piled onto, ignored and policed the most. I hear all the criticism. I see my fuck up.
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) November 18, 2019
3/3 “Celebrity” apologies always seem so self serving, so I’m just gonna add that I know I there’s more work to do, and in particular on this discussion of eating disorders and body expectations of BW, I will work to bring more light to this conversation from this community. ❤️
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) November 18, 2019
And while CupcakKe hasn't responded directly to Jamil, she did take a moment to tweet earlier today that she's "extremely blessed" to be on the fast, though she doesn't "suggest anyone to try this without consulting with a doctor first."
I am extremely blessed to be on a 60 day water fast , I’m currently a little over half way through it & it’s so beautiful..I don’t suggest anyone to try this without consulting with a doctor first..but I will be back once it’s over . god bless ,take care & do what you love 💕
— CupcakKe (@CupcakKe_rapper) November 20, 2019
Photo via BFA