Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images (left) and Rich Fury/Getty Images
- Jameela Jamil defended Demi Lovato after she criticized a frozen-yogurt shop.
- Lovato has been both praised and attacked for her Instagram story.
- The situation follows Jamil's many online controversies.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Actress Jameela Jamil came to Demi Lovato's defense after the singer blasted a frozen yogurt shop on Instagram, following the body-positivity advocate's long history of becoming involved with online controversies.
In an Instagram story on Sunday, Lovato called out The Bigg Chill, a frozen yogurt shop in Los Angeles, for having sugar-free options promoted as "guilt-free." Lovato said it was triggering for her, as somebody who has been open about her struggle with disordered eating. The singer used the hashtag "#DietCultureVultures," which she encouraged users to employ to criticize companies "that perpetuate a society that not only enables but praises disordered eating."
Lovato's comments were met with both criticism and praise online. Some called her out for previously promoting dietary supplements in the past. The singer later apologized to the shop in a video on Instagram.
Jamil, who has also been open about her history with eating disorders as well, posted her defense of Lovato on her Instagram story.
"Ok, I want to try to avoid making the story bigger than it already is. But if an eating disorder advocate says she sees products that are positioned as guilt-free, and it is potentially triggering, that doesn't mean she's too stupid to remember that diabetics exist," the "Good Place" star said. "It just means that we need to change the marketing of products that are for people's medical needs."
This isn't the first time Jamil has inserted herself into or been the subject of social media drama. She's repeatedly found herself at the center of controversy.
Jamil condemned Khloé Kardashian's promotion of Flat Tummy shakes in April 2019
In the spring of 2019, Jamil criticized Khloé for posting a since-deleted photo on her Instagram promoting Flat Tummy's meal replacement shakes. "Loving the way my tummy looks right now, you guys," the caption said.
Comments on the post criticized Khloé for promoting a weight-loss product, with many noting that she could afford her own team of fitness and wellness professionals. "You have this gorgeous body because you work out and eat healthy," one commenter said.
Jamil also called Khloé out in the comments section, saying that she was being "irresponsible" for not listing the possible side effects and that images like these could potentially "hurt other girls."
The statement eventually inspired a reaction from the head of the Kardashian-Jenner family.
During an interview with The New York Times, Kris Jenner responded to Jamil's comments about her daughter: "I don't live in that negative energy space," she said.
Jamil faced criticism for her role as a dance competition judge
In February 2020, Jamil was announced as an MC and judge on the HBO Max voguing-dance competition series "Legendary." As Entertainment Weekly reported at the time, the role of MC is "typically filled by a veteran of this queer counterculture."
Social media was set ablaze as people argued that there were people better suited for the role - including members of the LGBTQ+ community. Trace Lysette, a house mother and actress, said on Twitter that she auditioned for the same role but ultimately didn't get it.
Jamil defended herself by saying that Lysette went out for a different role and added that she was on the judging panel, and not an MC. The panel was slated to include rapper Megan Thee Stallion, stylist Law Roach, and ballroom icon Leiomy Maldonado, she said.
She then posted a statement to Twitter titled "Twitter is brutal" and came out as queer. "This is why I never officially came out as queer," the statement read. Jamil added, "I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear, and turmoil when I was a kid."
She continued, "I'm just a lead judge due to my 11 years of hosting experience, being fully impartial, a newcomer to ballroom (like much of the audience will be) and therefore a window in for people who are just discovering it now, and being a long time ally of the LGBTQ community."
The 'swarm of bees' drama
In February 2020, Tracie Egan Morrissey, who is a writer, producer, and host of the podcast "Pot Psychology," called out Jamil for seemingly making contradictory statements about her health.
"The Good Place" actress told the Daily Mirror in 2015 that she ran into oncoming traffic after attempting to run away from a bee - resulting in a damaged spine, bed rest for "two years," and having to wear a Zimmer frame to walk.
She told a slightly different story in October 2019, telling the Chicago Tribune that she was hit by a car during an evening jog as she was trying to get away from a "swarm of bees." She said she managed to make it out of the accident unscathed and sat in a juice bar nearby.
Jamil spoke to Cosmopolitan in November 2019 and detailed yet another slightly different story. She told the publication that she only needed to rest for "about a year," followed by about six months of wheelchair use.
Her breast cancer scare in 2014 was then also called into question by Morrissey. The actress told the Daily Mirror in 2015 that she had a lump she found in her breast tested and found that it wasn't cancerous. But in October 2019, she claimed to have survived breast cancer twice.
"I would just like to say, that as someone who has been chronically ill my whole life, and had cancer twice, I find it EXTREMELY offensive that there is a cultural taboo around ageing," Jamil wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
Jamil took to Twitter again to respond to Morrissey's claims and said in a since-deleted tweet, "First I'm lying about my sexuality, now I'm now being accused of Munchausens? By an unhinged idiot who didn't even realize in all her 'research' that my car accident injury stories are 'different' because they were about TWO SEPARATE CAR ACCIDENTS 13 years apart? You can keep it."
The actress also said that she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which according to the Mayo Clinic is a "group of disorders that "affect your connective tissues - primarily your skin, joints, and blood vessel walls." This "means always having people doubt your illness and injuries because you look okay," Jamil wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
Jamil called out Kim Kardashian's pregnancy shapewear line in September 2020
"The Good Place" actress spoke out on Instagram after Kim announced the maternity line for her shapewear line SKIMS. The announcement sparked debate online and caused mixed reactions. Some people were concerned that this product was contributing to unhealthy beauty standards.
"Excuse my ignorance but who's trynna shape their pregnant bodies? Y'all don't like being comfy and free and loose when pregnant? It's pretty much the only time you can be as shapeless and free and comfy as you want!" one Twitter user wrote.
While model Chrissy Teigen, who was pregnant with her third child at the time, defended the product, saying, "Hi guys, actual pregnant person here. Just wanting to show you and maybe talk a little about what pregnancy shapewear is."
She continued, "We're not idiots. None of us think that this is making us smaller... We do it so we feel high and tight. Honestly, it feels easier to get up, it feels easier to move around when you're not flopping all over the place. It just makes you feel better."
But Jamil was not a fan of the message the shapewear could potentially send to pregnant people. She wrote in an Instagram post, "You don't need your shape corrected or hidden. You don't need an even more awkward obstacle between you and a piss. You just need to try and ride with this miracle and do your best to be as happy/comfortable as is possible within your circumstances. Pregnancy is hard enough, with enough worries already."
Jamil also chimed in on Khloé's unedited photo scandal in April 2021
Earlier this month, an unedited photo of Khloé began circulating on social media after it was posted without her permission. Her team began trying to erase traces of the photo from the internet and began threatening people who reposted the photo with legal action. The photo scandal prompted a larger discussion of body image on the internet that lasted for several days.
Tracy Romulus, chief marketing officer for KKW Brands, told Page Six in a statement, "Khloé looks beautiful but it is within the right of the copyright owner to not want an image not intended to be published taken down."
As the conversation around body image continued on the internet, Jamil said on Instagram, "We are all f---ed when we buy into diet culture." She referenced her longstanding feuds with the Kardashian family, which she said "perpetuates fat-phobia and impossible beauty standards." But Jamil also extended some empathy towards the clan. "I TOTALLY see why they're so obsessed with presenting as whatever society's latest ideal of 'perfect' is. Because they were harassed and bullied and scrutinized to within an inch of their lives."
She finished by saying, "We cannot keep treating ourselves and each other like this. What's happening to her isn't funny. It's sad for everyone. May a good thing that comes from it be that at least young girls can breathe knowing they're trying to live up to fake standards and give themselves a break when they take holiday photos. And may Khloe maybe start to post more unedited photos and be a role model for self-acceptance."