Lady Gaga has clapped back at critics who attacked the star’s body shape following her stunning show at the Super Bowl this weekend—widely agreed to be one of the best performances the event has seen in recent years.
The Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon described it as “a high-energy one-woman show that soared on the star power and conviction of its tireless performer… at a time when our culture is careening down a spiral of divisiveness, exclusion, fear, and hate, Lady Gaga very pointedly used her own position as a cultural lightning rod to electrify a message that was pro-gay, pro-unity, pro-feminist, pro-weirdo, and pro-fabulous.”
Needless to say, however, some found fault, and Gaga was bizarrely attacked by haters who chose to focus on what they described as her “pot belly” (she has none) after the 30-year-old star exposed her tummy by wearing a theatrical crop top in the dramatic final sequence of the show.
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One troll tweeted: “Trendsetter Lady Gaga sets trend of women walking around with ‘over the belts’ pot belly,” while another wrote, “I just feel like #Gaga’s dough should've been tucked in better.”
Another troll tweeted: “Gaga, that flap though.”
The criticism was extraordinary—not just because Gaga has a stomach most humans would consider to be enviably toned, but because Gaga has been so openly vocal about her past struggles with bulemia and anorexia.
Gaga posted an impassioned riposte on Instagram Wednesday morning, writing: “I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I’m proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don’t need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That’s the stuff of champions. Thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys. Xoxo, Gaga.”
One commenter wrote underneath her post: “I don’t understand body standards these days. You’re either too skinny or too fat.”
Another commented, “Well said. Apart from showing people that it’s OK to be who you want to be, I think you give people hope. All the trolls do is try to destroy and create insecurity. I’d much rather follow your path. Keep rocking.”
