Trainor controversy all about ‘that’ waist
Meghan Trainor wasn’t looking to court controversy when she premiered her Me Too music video on Monday morning.
In the since-pulled clip for the empowerment anthem (her second single off sophomore album Thank You, out tomorrow), Trainor sings in her pyjamas, rocks a giraffe onesie, and breaks it down in a glittery blue dress with a group of teal-clad backup dancers. But shortly after posting the video, the No singer started seeing screenshots of her tiny waist on Instagram and Twitter, with some fans speculating that she had been retouched to look skinnier.
“I saw fans posting it and was like, ‘Why are fans ruining my waist? Are you kidding?’” Trainor told USA Today. “Then I went to the video and was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I texted the editors like, ‘I never asked you to touch my waist. I want my waist back.’”
Trainor had Me Too pulled off Vevo and YouTube early Monday afternoon, and signed off on a new version later that day.
The fixed one was released on Tuesday, and Trainor plans to share a photo comparison of the two videos on social media.
“Dude, look at how bomb I look,” Trainor said, watching the unaltered edit on an iPhone. “Why would they ever be like, ‘Let’s break her ribs!’ It’s insulting, it’s rude. Especially because I’m the only artist who talks about it.”
This isn’t the first time the recent Grammy winner has fallen victim to Photoshop. ( Last month, fans accused Seventeen of altering her body on the magazine’s cover.) But Trainor insists that of any instance, “this one was the worst”.
When she spotted the unauthorised touch-ups, “I screamed in my hotel room,” Trainor said. “I was like, ‘Why would they do this?’ I cried. I had to try not to cry because I had my [make-up] done, and was like, ‘Don’t ruin this. Go work and ignore it,’ but I couldn’t help it. I [posted a video] on Snapchat and was like, ‘Hey, took down my video because people are still breaking me and Photoshopping me and I’m sick of it. I’m over it. I’m so done.’”
Since her body-positive breakout single All About That Bass in 2014, Trainor has spoken out against unattainable beauty standards and written about self-love on new Thank You songs, including Watch Me and I Love Me.
“I wrote a song called Curves that didn’t make the album because it’s so doo-woppy, but I want to save it for some big campaign,” Trainor said. “It’s too good to not be heard.” ©2016 USA TODAY