Kelly Clarkson Shuts Down Yet Another Body-Shamer

If you get your kicks by insulting celebrities, the first American Idol is probably a bad target to pick (also, your hobby is pretty awful). After being attacked for posting a completely innocuous tweet, Kelly Clarkson shut down yet another body-shamer as effortlessly as one might swat away a mosquito, and it's a skill that she's unfortunately had to practice for years. "Thank u 2 every person in service 4 protecting all of us and cheers to every person who fought for us to experience freedom & independence," the singer tweeted on Tuesday night. "You're fat," replied someone who lacks the courage to use his real name or likeness online.

Rather than patiently explaining the rules of basic etiquette to someone whose bio consists solely of a racist quote from a 20-year-old movie, Clarkson proved in just four words (and an emoji) that her weight is completely irrelevant, because she has an adorable family, a new album coming out any day now, and 28 million reasons not to concern herself with some rando on Twitter. And this really shouldn't come as a surprise, because Clarkson's weight has been under constant scrutiny since she was just 20 years old, and her response has consistently been ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

After a particularly public bout of insults in 2015, Clarkson told Ellen DeGeneres, "I love how people think that's new. Like, welcome to the past 13 years!" Clarkson's weight has been mocked since she appeared on the first season of American Idol in 2002, she said, although some people only took notice after a Fox News anchor advised her to "stay off the deep dish pizza." That same year, a professional troll and "media personality" from England unleashed a Twitter tirade, but Clarkson didn't even know about it until a British magazine told her, weeks later. "Oh, and she's tweeted something nasty about me?" Clarkson said in an interview with Heat. "That's because she doesn't know me. I'm awesome! It doesn't bother me. It's a free world. Say what you will."

It's hard to offend someone by insulting something that they don't even think about. In a 2009 Self interview, Clarkson said, "When people talk about my weight, I'm like, 'You seem to have a problem with it; I don't. I'm fine!'" Ironically, the magazine chose to heavily retouch her photo for the cover of that issue, according to MTV. When questioned about some recent weight loss by Us Weekly in 2012, the singer shrugged it off: "I love performing no matter how big or little I am! I feel good." And she reiterated that position in a 2016 Redbook interview: "If I'm skinny one day or bigger one day, that ain't gonna change how I sound. I still sound pretty dang good. And my talent is why I'm here." But by all means, keep mentioning her weight, Clarkson said: "I think it's great that people always bring it up with me because I get to, 'Screw you, I don't care what you think.'"