Fashion magazine Marie Claire writer Maura Kelly recently wrote a column about how she feels uncomfortable watching overweight people make out on TV, referring to “Mike & Molly,” a new show about overweight people falling in love. “Should ‘fatties’ get a room? (even on TV?)”
Well that struck a nerve for a lot of folks, who lashed out with more than a 1,000 critical comments over the past three days, prompting Kelly to apologize.
Here’s an excerpt of Kelly’s piece:
“I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other … because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I’d find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.”
Kelly issued an apology and stated that her extreme reaction might also be due to her own history of anorexia:
“I would really like to apologize for the insensitive things I’ve said in this post. Believe it or not, I never wanted anyone to feel bullied or ashamed after reading this, and I sorely regret that it upset people so much. A lot of what I said was unnecessary. It wasn’t productive, either.”
