“If she just lost five pounds, Leo would’ve been able to fit on the raft.”
Kate Winslet has shared her “horrible” experience of body shaming in the media after the release of Titanic.
The actor, who played Rose in the 1997 James Cameron film, said she was criticised consistently following the movie’s release, most notably about how she looked.
Winslet told the Guardian that in the ’90s, tabloid publications would run stories commenting of her size and even guessing how much she weighed.
“It was almost laughable how shocking, how critical, how straight-up cruel tabloid journalists were to me,” she said.
“I was still figuring out who the hell I bloody well was! They would comment on my size, they”d estimate what I weighed, they’d print the supposed diet I was on. It was critical and horrible and so upsetting to read.
“In my 20s, people would talk about my weight a lot. And I would be called to comment on my physical self. Well, then I got this label of being ballsy and outspoken. No, I was just defending myself.”
But the criticism wasn’t just restricted to the UK. Winslet said that once she became a household name in the States, the body shaming continued. A particular comment the late Joan Rivers made – “If she just lost five pounds, Leo would’ve been able to fit on the raft” – has stuck with her since her 20s.
“It tampers with your evolving impression of what’s beautiful, you know?” said Winslet.
“I did feel very on my own. It damaged my confidence. I didn’t want to go to Hollywood because I remember thinking, ‘God, if this is what they’re saying to me in England, then what will happen when I get there?’”
You can read Winslet’s interview in full here.
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