‘Boys like a little more booty’ Meghan Trainor famously declared in her 2014 body positivity anthem All About That Base, but as the latest shrinking star to admit to using weight-loss injections, it seems the singer’s days of having ‘junk in the trunk’ are behind her.
Yes, Trainor is now one of the ‘skinny bitches’ she once took aim at in her music – proof that in the fickle world of celebrity, being thin trumps the noble ‘big is beautiful’ mantra when there’s a quick fix in town.
Ozempic chic is heroin-chic 2.0: Gaunt is glam and the red carpet is a sea of sagging turkey necks – the flipside of fast and furious fat loss. Why bother pounding the treadmills or dodging donuts when you’re only a prick away from perfection?
Amid growing online speculation over her dwindling frame, 31-year-old Trainor finally admitted to using Mounjaro – a brand of appetite suppressant injection – on Instagram following her appearance at the Billboard’s Women in Music Awards in LA, at which she looked particularly slim.
‘I’ve worked with a dietician, made huge lifestyle changes, started exercising with a trainer, and yes, I used science and support (shoutout to Mounjaro!),’ Trainor wrote on Instagram. ‘I’m so glad I did because I feel great.’
And perhaps the pop star does feel great; but as an artist with a brand rooted in self-acceptance, resorting to drugs – and otherwise atypical and expensive methods – to shape up seems to be a duplicitous about-face however you try to frame it.
Meghan Trainor is now one of the ‘Skinny bitches’ she once took aim at in her music – proof that in the fickle world of celebrity, being thin trumps the noble ‘big is beautiful’ mantra when there’s a quick fix in town.
‘Boys like a little more booty’ Meghan Trainor (pictured in 2019) famously declared in her 2014 body positivity anthem All About That Base, but as the latest shrinking star to admit to using weight-loss injections, it seems the singer’s days of having ‘junk in the trunk’ are behind her.
Though she’s far from alone.
There’s plus size influencer Remi Bader, who has had 80 percent of her stomach removed with a gastric sleeve and bypass surgery after she said that fat loss injections didn’t work for her.
Not surprisingly, the 30-year-old’s millions of followers were curious when the former-3XXL size body positive advocate lost 140 pounds in a year without comment. Bader finally came clean a year later, having posted misleading workout pictures and blocking anyone who dared to question it.
‘I needed to give myself the whole past year to heal and figure out what even just happened because I feel like people just want an answer from me and that’s not what I’m giving,’ the New York native attempted to explain when guesting on Khloe Kardashian’s podcast Khloe in Wonderland.
How dare loyal fans want an account of their plus-size role model’s miraculous weight loss!
Bader’s hypocrisy smacks of the all-too-common double standards of high-profile influencers not playing fair with their adoring and impressionable fanbase. Bader was happy to overshare when monetizing her plus-size status – leading to a lucrative if tokenistic call-up as a Victoria’s Secret brand ambassador in 2023 – but quick to play the tight-lipped privacy card when it no longer suited.
‘I’m not dropping the sizes,’ she said in 2023, when pushing for more 3XXL sizes in her collaboration with fashion brand, Revolve.
Well as it turned out, she did indeed drop the sizes. Her own sizes. And a lot of them.
Then there’s plus size influencer Remi Bader (pictured), who has had 80 percent of her stomach removed with a gastric sleeve and bypass surgery after she said that fat loss injections didn’t work for her.
Not surprisingly, the 30-year-old’s millions of followers were curious when the former-3XXL size body positive advocate lost 140 pounds in a year without comment. (Pictured: Remi Bader on the red carpet at the Victoria’s Secret World Tour 2023 event).
Of course, it’s not just the women who are susceptible to this calorie curbing elixir. Reality show Queer Eye’s grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness is 66-pounds lighter thanks to weight loss drugs he cites as a ‘huge help’ – though apparently group Pilates was also ‘pivotal.’
Unfortunately, Van Ness, 38, appears to be yet another ‘name’ who has lost some conviction along with weight. For the uninitiated, this was the man with a lot to say on male body image – blaming the ‘mainstream media’ for its ‘very narrow and shortsighted’ promotion of ‘Adonis-looking men.’
Interesting, then, how quickly he’s grabbed the opportunity to conform to such cliches – posing for a selfie with his new washboard abs and flexing his biceps.
To be clear, no one is criticizing anyone for taking action to be a healthier weight in principle. For those with soaring blood pressure at risk of diabetes and heart problems, when self-restraint fails them, this appears to be a win-win intervention.
Three cheers for pop princess Lizzo, 36, who posted last month about reaching her weight loss goal and insists she’s not on weight loss drugs.
And Keeley Shaye Smith, 61, wife of dashingly handsome actor Pierce Brosnan, 71, is the latest to show off her body transformation.
Smith has shed 100 pounds revealing the new look at the premiere of her husband’s latest Paramonunt+ series ‘Mobland’ in New York City on Monday and then the opening of the George Clooney broadway production of Good Night, Good Luck.
‘Gratitude for all my body has given and accomplished in 60 years’ was this mother-of-five’s defiant rebuke online to the fat shamers last year. She never preached about the fabulousness of fat.
These weight loss success stories are inspirational, but the quick-fix weight loss culture is not.
Indeed, seeing this approach abused and normalized by the already lean as a shortcut to become even skinnier is a worrying development.
Step forward the strained and scrawny Sharon Osborne – far removed from the toned glowing aesthetic achieved naturally in the gym.
Last September, model Lottie Moss ended up in hospital after being given high doses of Ozempic by her friend, who bought the drug under the counter from a doctor. Moss – just 26 at the time – weighed only 130 pounds, but her weight plummeted 15 pounds in just a few weeks.
Moss says she opted for the drug because she ‘not feeling happy’ about her weight. Unsurprising, considering her supermodel half-sis Kate was, after all, the face of heroin chic.
This is all sending a dangerous message in favor of quick fix culture, establishing a skewed aesthetic cycle of artificially deflating our bodies – only to then reinflate our face with filler to offset the damage.
Jonathan Van Ness is 66-pounds lighter thanks to weight loss drugs he cites as a ‘huge help’ – though apparently group Pilates was also ‘pivotal.’
The strained and scrawny Sharon Osborne is far removed from the toned glowing aesthetic achieved naturally in the gym.
Last September, model Lottie Moss (pictured) ended up in hospital after being given high doses of Ozempic by her friend, who bought the drug under the counter from a doctor. Moss – just 26 at the time – weighed only 130 pounds before taking the drug.
Most of all, this toxic cycle is a reminder of the smoke and mirrors of celebdom amid the pretence of relatability needed to hawk and plug endorsements.
Is it any real surprise that Oprah Winfrey – once Weight Watchers most famous ambassador – has achieved her most meaningful weight loss through medication.
Having extolled the programme’s virtues of healthy weight loss through diet and exercise for a decade, joining the company’s board and making $221 million selling Weight Watchers stock over the years, Winfrey resigned last year citing a conflict of interest.
Yes, calorie counting is sooo last year. She’s found a quick, easier solution… like many have.
