Megyn Kelly Is Under Fire for Her Pro Fat-Shaming Comments

In a time where the majority of Americans are anti-body shaming, there’s one woman—yes, woman—who’s not for it and thinks body shaming actually serves a purpose. On her show Megyn Kelly Today, Megyn Kelly went on the record and declared to women everywhere that fat-shaming isn’t necessarily a bad thing in the midst of interviewing her guest, fitness blogger Maria Kang. Back in 2013, Kang, who was on a new-mom fat-shaming roll, received some slack herself after gaining 10 pounds after separating from her husband and suffering depression.

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Kelly went on to say, “When I was in law school, I was gaining weight, and I said to my stepfather, ‘If you see me going into that kitchen one more time, you say, ‘Where you going, fat ass?’ And it works!”

While interviewing a fitness blogger on her show Megyn Kelly told viewers that some women want to be fat-shamed, adding that “it works!” pic.twitter.com/xqgFPfhgNO

— Mary Ann Georgantopoulos (@marygeorgant) January 11, 2018

Viewers of Kelly’s show weren’t too happy with her comment, and neither were her followers on Twitter, who were sounding off on her.

I was publicly fat shammed early on in my career and it sent me to therapy. Trust me, there are real life ramifications for fat shaming of any kind, it is NEVER acceptable. We should be fostering a healthy culture that celebrates all women of all sizes. https://t.co/dFn3hGwot6

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 11, 2018

Ya. .. um NO….. 😣😣🙄🙄🙄😔😔😔

— Jennifer or Mulva😂 (@JENisJUICY) January 11, 2018

Whaaat?! Are you serious?! pic.twitter.com/vJ2qozpvWk

— 🗽Christine💋 (@MindFeast622) January 11, 2018

Turned on the Today Show to catch @megynkelly share her dieting hack: FATHER-IN-LAW holds her accountable by saying “Where you going, FATASS??!” when he sees her heading into the kitchen. Genius!

— Justine Harman (@JustineHarman) January 11, 2018

Hey @megynkelly comments about my body from family contributed to my being hospitalized for an ED, with a feeding tube, please be more responsible with your platform https://t.co/LD2xUoohaE

— Brianna Kwasnik (@BriannaKwasnik) January 11, 2018

A day after Kelly’s controversial statements made the waves online, the anchor reversed her stance saying that she regrets the situation and claimed that it led to her eating disorder. “Soon there were diet pills and obsessive exercise and I had reduced my calorie intake to 500 calories a day,” Kelly said on her show. “My heart was racing all day, my hair and skin were dry — but I was thin. And so unhappy. I was scared of gaining weight because of the insane standard this country holds its women to and because I was and remain afraid of dying in my 40s.” Kelly concluded that obese people “need support, they need kindness and one thing they definitely do not need is to be body-shamed.”