‘Precious’ Star Gabourey Sidibe: “My First Diet Started At Age Six”
November 25, 2009 in Beauty & Body Image, Celebrity Quotes, Gabourey Sidibe by Versus
Gabourey Sidibe is the star of the movie “Precious”, a movie about an obese teenager who is twice impregnated by her father (and the one that made Mariah Carey “drink some ugly juice”, her words, not mine). Gabourey shared a few things about her attitude towards her weight and body on Oprah. Take a look at the interview!
[pro-player width='500' height='466' type='video']http://www.tdbimg.com/files/2009/11/21/vid-gabby-sidibe-talks-about-weight-on-oprah_103016314917.flv[/pro-player]
There are 2 more pictures of Gabourey from the movie premieres after the jump!
Hmm well it’s important she doesn’t value herself based on her weight only, but she can’t be healthy. Not my problem nor anyone elses really, losing weight is a real effort especially if you’ve been overweight your whole life. But still, being this big makes me think “someone help her”, it’s a major risk in her life.
Her confidence is admirable but there’s no denying being obese is very unhealthy. So I guess she sends out a good and bad message at the same time … if that is even possible.
My thoughts exactly
agree.
If she was overweight her whole life, it’s most probable she has a medical condition. So maybe she should check that out, because – as others have said – being happy with your body is great (i wish i had that mentality), however being overweight to obese is a serious issue and it is not ok to be promoted as fine, as long as you are happy. Just like extreme thinness, neither of these is not an option. A healthy body, yes, that’s what we should all want to achieve.
I agree with the first part, that she must be naturally inclined to weight. However, I don’t think she was making obesity seem acceptable- I think nowadays everyine is aware that a 43″ waistline = early death- I think what I got out of it, was that if a girl of her size, in such a judgemental career, can accept herself then so can we.
I COMPLETELY disagree. Being overweight doesnt probably mean she has a condition, if ANYTHING its people who suddenly become overweight or suddenly become underweight/lose alot of weight who most likely have medical problems
And I disagree with that. Not every condition is physical, or can be observed physically. Some medical conditions are mental. Some people are born with the ability to easily become addicted to food just like some people are born at risk of becoming alcoholics. And some people are born with a genetic variation where there are no signals to their brain that their stomach is full or that there is a certain amount of blood sugar in their system. So their brain thinks they have to keep eating and keeps making the person hungry. This causes their whole body to go out of whack permanently after that. If you don’t believe me, go to YouTube and search for Lisa Sellars.
I think the sooner we can stop blaming people who don’t have medical conditions like thyroid disorders for being overweight, the sooner we can understand what leads them to become obese, and the sooner we can help them.
My thoughts exactly. Thank you Casey, no need for me to explain now
You’re welcome Uma.
How old is she?
like 26…
Life goes on regardless of if you are thin or fat. I’ve been fat once (5’7 and 215) and I’ve been thin (5’7 and 134). For daily living Thin is better, you get less evil stares, less rude comments, less hatefulness in general. Granted I am ugly so I still get that crap just not as much of it.
It’s great she can love herself but she isn’t going to have much of career.
Ugly’s in the eye of the beholder
No it is is not. There are many correlates we find in the people we consider attractive such as clear skin, facial symmetry, etc. It’s better that you come to terms with what you are and stop chasing what you can’t have.
You’re wrong. You may find someone ugly at first, we can’t control our monkey brain being judgemental, and seeking those symmetries that you speak of… but we’re not a sum of mathematical expectations. We are more then that. I’m sick and tired of people taking evolutionary biology as some kind of law. It’s not deterministic.
Knowing a person for more then 5 seconds, if they are trully nice people, you will stop seeing them as ugly. If a person is smart, or funny, or exceptional in a way, you will end up attracted to them.
Pretty much all my boyfriends have been people traditionally considered as ugly. And by that I mean UGLY. I didn’t fall for them at first sight, but I came to care for them just as much as for any pretty person. Some of them told me they couldn’t believe I dated them. I felt so sad hearing that, how they considered themselves unworthy in some way. They were all exceptional in some way. Smart, or funny, or well-read. Yet no matter what their talents, they labeled themselves a 4 or a 5, and considered 8 can’t date them. How freaking sad.
With my current boyfriend, at some point, I got very ill, and ended up in the hospital. We had been dating for just 2 months. He stayed through it with me. He saw me without make-up, tweezers, concealers, hair dye, wax, moisturiser, and minus 20 pounds I very much needed to stay of normal weight. I thought he’d just dump me, I looked like cat vomit, it was one of my worst fears (being seen as I am, a hairy blotchy faced manly featured chick with genetic black undereyes, only worse, I was ill-looking as well). Yet he stayed by my side, and told me I was beautiful. I realised I had the same bleak outlook my exes did. Weighing myself like a piece of meat, like that’s all I’m worth.
Beauty is overrated. Don’t sell yourself so short. You are not simply the sum of your looks. And don’t expect the worst out of people, they might just surprise you.
Fantastic post that I absolutely concur with… Personality has definitely upped my attraction to many people despite initially finding their appearances unattractive.
These are your personal experiences. They are not indicative of world wide social trends.
‘It’s better that you come to terms with what you are and stop chasing what you can’t have’
The only statement of yours that I find logical, but I agree with this in a different context.
There may be certain factors such as clear skin and symmetry that are conventionally seen as attractive but that doesn’t mean that every person with clear skin etc is considered attractive.
You visit this site don’t you? I doubt that on more than 1% of these threads people have unanimously agreed that someone is attractive or ugly. If ugly wasn’t in the eye of the beholder then we’d all have the same opinion as to what was ugly and what wasn’t. There was a time when black people were considered ugly and now you have many black icons of beauty. The change isn’t because black people have gotten prettier over the years but because people’s perceptions have changed.
I have no idea what you look like and if you think you’re ugly then okay, go ahead, but that really is your opinion of yourself rather than what you actually are. A thousand people may agree with you but then 500 may say your pretty. Who’s correct?
I agree.
Agree Nkeon. Utterly and completely.
Please tell me that the people in the background aren’t laughing at her…
That makes me feel like crying.
Oh gosh i hope not. Maybe they know shes a celebrity and they are happy to see her. idk.
I really don’t think they are. Most of them are just smiling, probably because she’s semi-famous (they have their cameras out) and the one with the hand over the mouth looks like they are yawning because their eyes are shut.
Sometimes some of the comments on here make me wonder if people have a proportionate view on weight.
Being obese is not healthy, we all know this, but it is seldom immediately life-threatening. If you are overweight, it is not likely to kill you today or tomorrow (unless you’re so fat that they need to use multiple cranes to winch you off your bed/couch). Being obese knocks 7 years off your life expectancy, not 70 years.
Thank you, someone with rational thoughts
I generally agree. Some people act like every overweight person is about to drop dead.
But at the same time this is not a normal case of obesity. She has been overweight since she was 6. It is different, because during that time your arteries, your heart, your liver and your kidneys are developing. All of those things become permanently altered. I am willing to bet she doesn’t have diabetes and never will. That’s because her liver has altered it’s function. And that is more dangerous than the typical diabetes because that means the liver can stop functioning anytime. Same with her other organs.
I don’t know if other people were considering her age when they were acting like she was going to die any time now, but I was, although I wasn’t acting like that. Her age of onset of obesity is very important.
Exactly, i mean when u see people smokin or not takin care of their skin u dont think theyre just gonna drop dead!
No, I expect them to get lung cancer/skin cancer and die slowly.
That is just not pretty. She is very obese and should get a medical evaluation and start to shed som serious amount of weight!
Who are you to give medical advice?Are you her doctor?
I think that was a pretty normal opinion, and pretty sensible… That response was a little weird…
she didn’t give medical advice…she said that the girl should go get medical advice…not the same
It’s one thing to give advise of her losing weight. The “that’s not pretty” comment was a bit shady to me. I want to first off say she looks beautiful. She has a very pretty face and the dresses she has on looks lovely for her large frame. I am concerned about her weight however. Reading that she’s always been that size, I take it as it’s probably genetic and must run in her family. Some people are blessed to be small, and curvy. Others….well, isn’t as lucky. I would like her to lose weight, but to focus on being healthy….NOT thin.
Excuse me for not finding her pretty…This website is for discussing celebrities looks, and to be honest I don`t find her attractive. The reason I wrote that she should seek some medical advice is to find out if the obesity has caused any health issues.
I think she needs to shed weight now, mostly for her own health, but also in MY opinion to look a lot better. Whenever you are extremely obese, like she clearly is, you need an evaluation to find the right way to loose weight. She might have medical reasons for being obese.
It`s so easy to say that skinny people look terrible, but whenever someone says that an overweight person does not look good, then you get slammed. Ridiculous!
Yes, I don`t find her pretty at all, and some of you do. We all have different opinions on what`s pretty or not. This is mine, deal with it!
Dear Jessica / Hannah / Olivia / Jacqui / Kelly / Stephine,
You have used 6 usernames while commenting in this thread. As a result, all your comments (except your initial one) have been deleted.
Kindly pick one of your “multiple personalities” and stick to one username.
Thank you.
You don’t need to be a doctor to tell this girl is overweight. She seems very intelligent so i’m sure she’s in no denial about the state of her weight and the implications it could have on her health. Luckily these days that kind of information is readily available.
From this vid the message I got from her is that it is important to love yourself no matter what. Afterall, if we all waited until we were 100% perfect before we felt good about ourselves then we’d be waiting forever and a few minutes.
Yes, she’s big – we can all see that – but she’s just made her debut in a film that’s received critical acclaim so she should be happy
I understand that this website is for talking about figures. However, I have that right to voice that it’s wrong to call someone nasty. PERIOD. You were talking about her, and it wasn’t right. So I called you out.
Verses,
This was used by more than one username. All of my friends are over using the same computer. These are different user names, same computer.
Do you know how to read Jessica!? When did I say she was nasty!? I said I did not find her pretty, what is wrong with that? Most people would not because she is extremely obese. I do not find obese people pretty no matter what. Sure, they might have a beautiful face, but when they get so big, the fat ruins the face too. Her face is really round.
Everyone has the right to speak their opinions. I do not find this girl pretty, but not nasty. Take your multiple personalities and go somewhere else to bash on people because you have problems with people not finding obese people pretty.
If this is true, then I apologize – but all the comments were saying the same thing / used the same writing style and they were posted seconds apart.
This has happened before and I got some complaints because the entire thread was being dominated by one person (or one IP).
kudos to her for being confident. but she should try and be more “healthier” ya know?
weight does not equal health
In this case, i really think it does. Atleast psysical health.
She has the cutest and sweetest personality, i saw her on Conon Obrien and even Conon said he’s never interviewed anyone more fun and interesting, you guys should check it out.
If people are happy with themselves, good for them and the rest of us should quit lecturing them!
On the “healthy” issue, I’m slim and my diet/lifestyle is not exactly anything I would call healthy, and it would be frustrating if people kept looking at me and, just based on my size and weight, telling me to be healthier.
I’m just going to address the big issues, as I said in my other post, if you’ve been overweight since you’re 6, it is likely there is something fundamentally wrong with her, whether a medical condition or a mental condition. The girl does need either medical or psychiatric treatment because being overweight since 6 (while you are still developing) is very, very dangerous. It is not the same as becoming overweight at 25, when your arteries and body and fat cells are not developing.
However, I am glad she has accepted herself. I think everyone should love themselves no matter what. How can anyone hope to ever get over whatever her cause of obesity is if they hate themselves? I don’t think she is saying, “I look damn sexy, I love myself!” I think she is just accepting the fact that she has this obesity problem and that it should not affect her love for herself.
You make a good point. My opinion is that her love for herself (as anybody else for that matter) should be translated in being healthier… or at least trying to.
She is extremely obese and her body is alarming about her health condiction. A person with that much excessive weight just can’t be healthy. I bet she has some serious health problems because her internak organs are probably covered with thick fat layer and we all know what kind of problems this might cause. If not for the aesthetics, then for health sake, do something, girl.
I agree, She doesn’t need to suddenly become a Size 0, but atleast 50 pounds or so off wouldn’t harm her.. Instead, help her!
condition*
even though she definetely could be healthier and exercise a little everyday I think that it’s great that she doesn’t live everyday hating herself… because literally hating yourself everyday cause you won’t lose weight i a waste of life
I say girls who are way too skinny are scary, not beautiful, but so are girls who are too fat. Sorry
, I can’t be a hypocrit here. Those pics indeed scared me!
Don’t get me wrong, though, I value a woman with curves or a little extra weight and happy with herself, but only as long as she’s healthy.
Her weight and size aside, she seems like one of those people who just radiate. In these photos, she looks like she’s glowing to me.
I hope she gets the help she needs so that she can live a healthier life.
if shes fat since shes 6, the problem is probably her parents who gave her bad food and bad habits.
stop blaming the glands ! blame the life style
Do you even know what glands are?
You need to blame your parents for not teaching you what glands are.
Whilst I am happy that there ARE girls out there who can feel good about themselves and speak out for bigger girls, I feel that promoting this body type or congratulating her when she is this unhealthily obese is just as bad (or if not worse) as congratulating a severely anorexic person for enjoying being skeletal. Both will end up killing you in the end if at different rates, neither are at all healthy or what the youth of today should be aspiring to and in my opinion, neither deserve congratulations, whether you are happy that way or not. It’s not right to promote this girl as a role model. She is killing herself by choosing to stay this way. If we saw a post on a girl on the brink of death by anorexia, would you say “Well done for not wanting to change your ways and standing up for yourself and people like you”?
I think not. I realise it’s not exactly the same, but it’s a similar basic cenario.
She seems like a really sweet and smart girl, but to be honest, her body disgusts me.
thats kinda harsh… its not like you have to sleep with her or see her naked anytime soon. I say until you yourself is fat dont judge fat people cause losing weight is waaaay harder than you think its a mental thing. Cut her some slack, its her body, its her life ,its her health she is free to be as big as she pleases and we shouldn’t congratulate or forsake her for it.
I believe people should be happy with themselves and confidence is imperitive.
BUT how can anybody say “good for her” – she is incredibly, incredibly unhealthy and will have so many health problems in her life.
She is morbidly obese and anybody encouraging acceptance of this is just as delusional as those encouraging the size 0 parade.
Plus doesn’t it look just so damn uncomfortable???
she has the most bubbly and infectously happy personality (from what ive seen on “conan”, “oprah”, and “ellen”).
i was blown away by her performance in “precious”. couldnt believe it was her first movie.
Was that movie any good? I keep meaning to go catch it.
its really good. it doesnt have the “happy ending” though. little spoiler:)
Im sorry you all gonna hate me but ……….. :S
GROSSSSSSSSSSs
Why on earth would anyone make a movie about such a disgusting horrible thing that happened to someone? That will definitely be one I won’t go see.
Agreed. Her confidence makes her appealing. Of course, I’m not saying “oh she should stay this weight.” No, she should try to lose some to be healthier. I am glad that she isn’t sitting around thinking “oh I’m so fat, especially here in hollywood with everyone being a size 00,” and at the same time, I think she knows her health risks staying where she is.
I haven’t seen the film yet but I have read the book, which is based on a true story; I think its message far out weighs the “gruesomeness” of the film.
The book is very good.
It’s even uncomfortable for me to look at her due to her severe obesity. Her body looks so bloated and awkward ( arms look like they are bulging far beyond their capacity). I’m sorry to say I’m really disgusted with her body; she may be a confident and bubbly person but there’s no denying how morbidly obese she is. As far as her attitude on her physicality (being that she’s comfortable in how she looks), I believe she is fooling her self and shouldn’t be all too comfortable weighing close to 400 pounds. Of course she has the utmost right to have as much self-esteem and confidence as she wants—but she shouldn’t just lay back and entertain the idea of continuing to pack on the pounds. The girl is a wonderful presence and her performance in “Precious” ( which I had the opportunity to watch a couple of days ago) brought me to my knee’s sobbing. Remarkable actress. But, she needs to get focused on getting her body in order.
She is overweight. I am not a medical professional, but I think most can agree that she is, in my opinion, most likely engaging in unhealthy habits, whether it be overeating, big portions, or a lack of exercise. Or perhaps she has a medical condition. But a medical condition will contribute to her size, not initiate it.
We all know that life is about balance. Hopefully in her success, she will adopt some additional or initial healthy habits.
Her makeup is beautiful, and she has a wonderful smile.
She is not ugly,look at her face.She’s just fat and fat can be lost.
oh, my god she is disgusting…
And curvy CANNOT be used as a euphemism for obese now
cause come on guys she is obese..
AND THAT IS NOT HEALTHY!
Ok, she is sayinh all this stuff in order to convince herself that there is no problem but indeed she must lose 30 pounds
And I don’t support skinny-ness
i’m happy she loves her self and has the confidence that many thin people don’t have but…..this is just to much. I’d hate to see this wonderful girl die of a heart attack at the age of 30. this girl needs to eat a balanced diet and and take a 2 mile walk every morning. so whenever all you guys want to call jessica simpson, kim k, or kelly clarkson fat think twice.
i’m sorry but I think that is bullshit. No one can possibly be “so happy” with the way they look if they look like THAT. Obviously there’s more to a human being and beauty at the end of the day translates into nothing (many “beautiful” people hate even their own existence and can be mean) BUT imagine her breathing, health, simple tasks like getting in a car and going up a flight of stairs, getting dressed and knowing that SHE’s responsible for that misery.
I do not respect her.
I do not respect you.
Wow just wow… This girl is beautiful. A person who really is truly beautiful. It shines from within her and it’s not fake. It’s all her. Her confidence about her looks are admirable and I think us women should take note and start to accept ourselves more.
I know a lot of people will probably disagree with me but I really think that she is a beautiful person. I don’t necessarily think her body is “ideal”, obesity is still obesity. But I don’t think people should start ranting about how unhealthy she is and how she should lose weight. This is up to her. If she’s tried dieting since she was 6, then she already knows. Her having come to terms with her body is wonderful, obese or not. There are many out there who just hate themselves every day, feeling guilty over eating something sugary. That is self-abuse and doesn’t create any sort of motivation.
I’m really surprised to see this excessive mention of “HEALTH” on here. How it’s HEALTHY to be thinner and so on and so fourth. But does anyone here actually KNOW the definition of HEALTH?
According to the WHO:
“Health is not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being.”
I doubt the majority of those skinny and toned celebrities are “healthy” if they keep obsessing over what food they eat and excessive calorie counting. And the definition says “Physical well-being”. This does not equate to being normal BMI weight or about weight at all. Besides, experts have found so many flaws with the BMI tests and their “accuracy”
I apologize for the long rant. This subject affects me personally as my father, 60 years old, received a heart transplant 8 years ago. He has ALWAYS been slim and toned and yet he’s had 9 strokes in the left side of his heart. This has only taught me that it is the way we live our life that really has impact on our health.
Yes. This girl is obese. Why can’t she be happy with that? Why is it IMPOSSIBLE to be happy about it? It is a good thing she accepts it, because none better than her knows how it feels. So Don’t go parading around telling her to lose weight. This is her life and her choice.
TO: EVERYONE THATS REPLIED TO MY COMMENT
(for some reason I can’t reply directly)
I’m sure she is a good person and yeah I don’t know her but I have BEEN obsese before and throughout those years of my life, despite the instances where I said everything was okay… it wasn’t, which is why I choose to not believe her. It’s miserable and heart breaking to have to live like that and if her experience is otherwise then she deserves an award.
It’s funny really. I’ve been obese too and am still a little overweight. But the thing is, being a 22 year old girl, I never really cared about my body image. Suddenly when I hit my 20s it was more peoples perception of me that bothered me. Other people made me feel bad about myself. If you’re -fat- you are instantly labeled as a lazy slob who sits on the couch and eats all day. And that is what bothered me. This horrible judgemental side of people that labels people without getting to know them personally.
I think we should all take a gander in the mirror and smile at the potential rolls, birthmarks or other “defects” we might have
Women come in all shapes and sizes.
let me tell u something as a cardiologist…
for ever 10 pounds you are over weight, your heart has to work 9 times harder.
this girl is very sweet but her denial is a coping mechanism..she has high blood pressure, diabetes, infertility, hormonal problems…i know this from the dark patches on her skin…
this is sad, but she is a great girl…people who let her get like this are just as guilty
Someone who uses “u” in place of “you” does not strike me as someone who has spent the required time and money to get a medical degree. If you really are a medical doctor I am frightened.
i think i can use “u” as i come to a site like this to relax after my 115 hour work week clearing the arteries of people like her.
All i can say is sure, she may b e overweight and her body may be under immense stress to keep her alive. But at the same time there are hundreds of celebrities out there that are TOO THIN and THEIR bodies are working overtime to keep THEM alive too.. And yet we congratulate them when they lose ‘baby weight’ or ‘a few kilos’.
This society has a problem I think…
Thank you! Fat does not equal disorder and thin does not equal healthy.
Her body is HER BODY!! It is none of anyone’s business. Acting like we all care that she’s so “unhealthy” is ridiculous, none of us are her personal friends or family. We are not her personal doctors. Speaking about her obesity and how unhealthy our society may think she is, is just a coping mechanism because we as a society can’t accept the fact that she is rebelling against the social norms by loving her self just the way she is. And we fear her changing societies fat phobic perceptions. We are so use to body hate that we can not even process or understand why someone of her size could possibly love her self as much as she does.
I think everyones arguing over something that is obvious, and that is that she is at risk being this big and should (probably is) do something about it. Whether or not it is due to a condition, which envitably it is as even over eating is a condition, is irrelevent because she is clearly unhealthy.
I think people should stop trying to talk about this like it is a health issue. No one really cares about the health of fat people. If people actually cared about the health of others we would also speak this way about very thin women. Both very large women and very thin women do almost the same damage to their bodies, but as a society we enjoy the very thin and hate the fat. We are a society of women who love to hate each other. So get over it. I am sure there are many people who see each one of us and thinks we are disgusting.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that no one cares about the health of fat people. If that was the case, so much media coverage, talk shows, etc wouldn’t cover the issues that overweight people face. I think a lot of people care, especially because overweight people are the majority in the United States and it is a big problem for our country and its health resources.
I also don’t think society enjoys very thin and hates fat. I think people criticize very thin women just as much as overweight women. I think this site is very indicative of that. Just look at any of the Miranda Kerr posts, and she’s not even that frighteningly thin like Anya R. I think people generally like sizes 2-8, and anything outside that is too big or too small.
Can anyone see the idiots snickering in the background of the first photo. Those are the people who make peoples lives miserable. They are the ones who make nasty comments just loud enough for you to hear but not be heard by everyone
And to who judge her. Just remember that judging some one does not describe who they are. It describes who YOU are.