Sharing their stories. Taylor Swift, Laurie Hernandez and more celebrities have opened up about struggling with their body image and battling eating disorders.
In her Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, the Grammy winner revealed that seeing “pictures of myself every day” could send her into a spiral. “A picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big, or … someone said that I looked pregnant … and that’ll just trigger me to just starve a little bit — just stop eating,” she said in the film.
Swift later went into more detail during a candid conversation with Variety in January 2020. “I didn’t know if I was going to feel comfortable with talking about body image and talking about the stuff I’ve gone through in terms of how unhealthy that’s been for me — my relationship with food and all that over the years,” she told the outlet, admitting that she’s “not as articulate as I should be about this topic.”
The “Cardigan” singer recalled being told during photo shoots that stylists were excited to not have to make alterations to sample-size clothing. “I looked at that as a pat on the head,” she continued. “You register that enough times, and you just start to accommodate everything towards praise and punishment, including your own body.”
While she was initially wary about sharing her journey with the world, director Lana Wilson called it “one of [her] favorite sequences of the film” and praised the Cats star’s vulnerability.
“I think it’s really brave to see someone who is a role model for so many girls and women be really honest about that,” the filmmaker told Variety. “I think it will have a huge impact.”
Hernandez, for her part, faced an intense amount of pressure to perform at the highest level as an Olympic gymnast. She told Us Weekly exclusively in June 2021 that her habits were “obsessive and unhealthy” — but she didn’t realize it right away.
“Honestly, it was a really long up and down journey of understanding food and understanding how I saw food and how my body received food,” the Dancing With the Stars alum explained at the time. “There was a lot of learning and a lot of patience and grace involved. … Now I don’t count or track calories. I’m just kind of eating clean, because I also know that food is a fuel and for what I do and it is important to eat healthy.”
Scroll down to which celebs have bravely overcome their struggles.
If you or someone you know struggles with an eating disorder, visit the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders (ANAD) website or call their hotline at (888)-375-7767 to get help.