Jennifer Aniston has been plagued by trollish tabloid rumours since the beginning of her career. If you were to actually believe the headlines, one minute she’s sad and alone; the next she’s pregnant, married, and blissfully happy. And this hot-cold narrative still plays out — both for Jennifer and a slew of other female celebrities. In fact, this is a media phenomenon that almost exclusively happens to women: people feel entitled to know about — and pass judgment on — female celebrities’ lives. It’s reductive, sexist, and needs to stop.
Jennifer typically doesn’t say anything about these rumours — and why should she? They’re ridiculous and not worth her energy. That’s why it was so shocking when she did speak out against the tabloids in 2016. Fed up with another rumour that she’s pregnant, the Friends star wrote a Huffington Post article criticizing the way tabloids treat women.
“I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up,” she wrote. “I’m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of ‘journalism,’ the ‘First Amendment’ and ‘celebrity news’…We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies.”
It was a powerful essay — and Jennifer doubled down on its message in a recent interview with Vogue. The actress did not mince words when asked about people who body- and baby-shame her.
“I think the problem is the tabloids and the gossip columns taking the human body and putting it in a category,” she said. “They’re either fat-shaming, or body-shaming, or childless-shaming. It’s a weird obsession that people have, and I don’t understand exactly why they need to take people who are out there to entertain you, and rip them apart and bully them? Why are we teaching young women this? It’s incredibly damaging.”
About her viral HuffPost essay, Jennifer said, “I couldn’t hear this narrative anymore about being pregnant or not pregnant; you have no idea what is going on personally in our lives and why that is or is not happening and it feels… In my own brain, I’ve shifted my perspective, so who gives a s–t!”
And she encourages women — both famous and not famous — to also not give a s–t about the people who shame them. “If you’re going to walk out and have your nipples showing, or your belly is a little bloated, or you’re not at the weight you want to be — you are perfect no matter what you are, and no matter where you are, and who cares?!”
Right on — and let her words be a reminder to everyone: who you are right now is enough.
