Is Weight Loss a No-Win Situation for Some Celebs?

Pop stars can belt high notes, crush stages, and win awards—but when it comes to their bodies, it seems like they just can’t win. Whether they slim down, bulk up, get surgery, or stay the same, the public has something to say—and often, it’s not kind.

Just ask Lizzo. The singer took to Twitch in March to directly call out rapper Yung Miami over a comment made on the Club Shay Shay podcast. Miami had described a certain body type as "ew," and Lizzo wasn’t going to let that slide.

But instead of a messy fight, something surprising happened: a real conversation.

Yung Miami clarified that she wasn’t trying to insult anyone, but was pointing out the impossible standards women face:

“When you have a natural body, you look like a little boy you got no sex appeal. When you do get a BBL it’s like oh my god your body fake. It’s like if you natural they hate you, if you get a BBL they hate you.”

This might as well be the motto for every woman in the spotlight—and it's especially true for those who dare to lose weight. Whether they’re shedding pounds for health reasons, mental clarity, or just personal preference, female celebrities often get hit with criticism from all directions.

In September 2024, Lizzo began what she calls her “weight release” journey. But forget the usual before-and-after narrative. For her, it started from the inside.

“I think I had to start with cleaning out my mind and my energy and clearing out all of the negativity around me. And I feel like I released so much I was holding on,” she said during an interview as reported by Billboard. “I do call it a weight release because [when] it started, I got snatched here first. And then my body just followed suit so I do feel amazing.”

She stuck to workouts like yoga sculpt, pilates, pickleball, and hikes. But online, people had opinions—lots of them. Some claimed she got “skinny,” and one interviewer said he didn’t think she was “big” anymore. Her reply?

“I am big. What we talking about? Baby, I’m big.”

Lizzo even joked about the way people don’t notice slow transformations:

“I didn’t realize how much my body changed until I was filming the ‘Love in Real Life’ music video. I was in shock. It shocked me, because the way that I’m releasing weight has been a long slow process,” she added. “People may not have seen me or been keeping up with me, but I’ve been posting about it, and I’m in a calorie deficit, so that’s the one that sneaks up on you.”

But the mental journey? That one’s more complex:

“When I was bigger, I felt skinnier than I do now. When I was in my string bikini and I was at my heaviest weight, I was like, ‘Skinny b----.’ That’s when I realized skinny was a feeling and not a look.”

Meghan Trainor gave the world All About That Bass back in 2014—an anthem celebrating curvy girls. But during a recent live show, she changed the lyrics to reflect her current body:

“Yeah, it’s pretty clear / I got some new boobs.”

Fans were divided. One person wrote: “Gals ALWAYS get skinny, get surgery, change something after years of telling us to love ourselves the way we are 😭😭😭😭,” and another added: “‘Big is beautiful until you’re rich enough to change it.’—story of the entertainment industry.”

Trainor didn’t hide anything. After giving birth to her second child, she said:

“I’ve always struggled with loving my boobs before I got them done. They were never even and were always sagging my whole life.” She also admitted to using a medication for weight loss.

“No, I don’t look like I did 10 years ago. I’ve been on a journey to be the healthiest, strongest version of myself for my kids and for me,” she wrote. “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!) to help me after my 2nd pregnancy,” she continued. “And I’m so glad I did because I feel great.”

Still, even with honesty and health goals, some fans questioned her right to sing about body positivity.

Kelly Osbourne has been famous since her teens—and judged the entire time. According to PEOPLE, at a health summit, she shared:

“We live in a fat-phobic world. I have been a drug addict, an alcoholic … I’ve been a complete mess, disrespectful to people, horrible — but I got more s--- for being fat than I did for anything else. It’s insane.”

It didn’t stop when she lost weight either. She said: “You’ll never read an article about me that hasn’t got a comment about my weight.”

She recalled: “People [would] say, ‘You’re so pretty. Why don’t you just lose a little bit of weight, and then you’ll be the total package.’”

Kelly has tried everything—from surgery to medications to therapy. But she says the real change came when she worked on herself mentally:

“I tried probably everything that there is out there, whether it be surgery, medication, diet and exercise. I got my mind where I needed it to be, and everything started to fall into place.”

And she makes one thing clear:

“It’s not just as simple as change your diet and move,” she said. “You have to change your brain. You have to come to peace and acceptance about where you are in your life before you can start.”

Kelly Clarkson recently celebrated her transformation with humor, honesty, and—of course—killer vocals. While performing, a fan shouted she looked “sexy.” Kelly took the moment to joke about workplace rules:

“Every time I go to an HR meeting, I'm like, 'How have I not been fired?' I grew up on the road at 19 years old, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, 'Oh, that is inappropriate. I would never,'”

She wasn’t done. “But they also say you're not allowed to say someone looks attractive, and I say f--- that. Because some of those bitches are out here working, and we're trying, and I want every motherf---er that passes me to go, 'Damn. Well done.'”

She also shared that she felt good at any size: “I felt very confident at a higher weight. I felt fine both ways, but I'm just saying it's a lot more fun with clothes now. And I've been working on it.”

Megan Thee Stallion hasn’t gotten the same level of criticism as others—but that doesn’t mean people stayed quiet. Some accused her of having surgery. Megan didn’t let it slow her down. She’s focused on health and balance, speaking positively about how good she feels—not just how she looks.

For celebs, weight loss is often a public landmine. Change too much? You’re fake. Stay the same? You’re lazy. Be honest? You’re “sending the wrong message.”

What many show is that there’s never going to be a version of you that pleases everyone. But that doesn’t mean you stop. You shift. You stretch. You grow. You evolve.