Stars ripped for weight-loss products.
It’s been quite an energizing, inspiring week for Jameela Jamil’s crusade against celebrities like Cardi B, Iggy Azalea and the Kardashians who hawk detox tea, appetite-suppressant lollipops and other dubious diet products to their fans.
“The Good Place” actress and feminist advocate garnered positive headlines for smartly feuding with the famously confrontational rapper Cardi B, FastCompany and other outlets reported.
Jamil adroitly pointed out that the rapper probably doesn’t even use the detox tea she promoted on Instagram over the weekend, even though Cardi B claimed it helped her slim down after giving birth four months ago. But Cardi B wasn’t the only celebrity influencer in Jamil’s crosshairs this week.
British-born Jamil, who runs a campaign called I Weigh to promote women’s self-worth, also called out Iggy Azalea, Khloe Kardashian and Amber Rose.
These women have become “brand ambassadors” for a company called Flat Tummy Co, encouraging their tens of millions of social media followers to buy the company’s detox teas and meal replacement products.
Jamil, 32, called these stars “bloody liars” and “double-agents for the patriarchy,” pointing out that they are sending the harmful message that fans should try to look like them — but that the only way they can is if they use such products.
As Refinery29 noted, dietary supplements aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so there’s no telling what’s in them. Jamil also has said that such social media posts are potentially damaging to people’s body image and self-worth.
The posts also are misleading, Jamil noted, saying in several tweets that it’s unrealistic for fans to think they can attain a certain celebrity body shape and airbrushed appearance without the help of a team of professionals: “When will these women who are covered in plastic surgery stop telling their followers to drink a laxative to look like them?” Jamil added in another tweet.
For Jamil, her crusade stems from her own struggles with self-worth. In another series of tweets, she said that, growing up, she bought into “miracle cures and laxatives” from celebrities in order to maintain a lower weight, but the products made her sick and messed with her digestion and metabolism. “I was the teenager who starved herself for years,” she said.