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Kim Kardashian West’s reaction to comments that she looks ‘anorexic’ sends a ‘message that thinness is all-important’

The reality star is facing backlash

By
August 2, 2018 at 2:05 p.m. EDT

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Bethonie Butler.

In a recent Instagram Story, Kim Kardashian West reveled in compliments from two of her sisters, Kendall Jenner and Khloé Kardashian.

Jenner tells her sister that she’s “really concerned” and doesn’t think Kim’s eating. “Like, you look so skinny,” the model tells Kim, who squeals: “Oh my God, thank you!”

The exchange continues with Khloé telling Kim that she’s “never seen a human being look as good” and that she looks like “a walking Facetune doll,” referring to the popular photo-editing app. Khloé also said her sister looks “anorexic” in some areas of her body.

A fan account shared the videos, which disappear after 24 hours on Instagram Stories. Now, Kardashian West is facing backlash from fans and female celebrities alike.

Lauren Muhlheim, a clinical psychologist who runs a Los Angeles outpatient practice specializing in eating disorder treatment, said that Kardashian West’s excited reaction to her sisters’ comments “sends a message that thinness is all-important.”

That can be a dangerous message for her fans — especially younger ones who look up to celebrities like Kardashian West, Muhlheim added.

Kardashian West has revealed her weight on many occasions, even sharing photos of numbers on a scale with captions such as “12lbs to go to reach 2010 Kim!” She has documented various diets and the use of weight-loss supplements, some of which she has been paid to endorse.

“The Good Place” star Jameela Jamil, who previously called Kardashian West out for promoting an appetite-suppressant lollipop, shared an Instagram post asserting that the weights of prominent women including Florence Nightingale and Rosa Parks have never been a topic of discussion “because it doesn’t matter.”

Jamil launched I Weigh, an Instagram account, in March. It promotes positive images of women without talking about their size.

‘The Good Place’s’ Jameela Jamil wants to change the way women see themselves

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Stephanie Beatriz also slammed Kardashian West and her sisters for their comments.

“Kim Kardashian saying what she weighs and her sisters complimenting her being so skinny is like eating my brain [right now],” Beatriz wrote in Instagram Stories captured by ET. Beatriz added that she once weighed the same as Kardashian West — while “in the middle of a terrible relationship and intense eating disorder” — and noted that she had “been texting friends for support” after seeing Kardashian West’s videos. Actress Emmy Rossum, who echoed Beatriz’s sentiments in Instagram posts of her own, later tweeted about “the danger of praising — even in jest — anorexia.”