A Twitter thread has gone viral after exposing a slew of celebrities who were considered “fat” in the early 2000s.
The online discussion named female stars like LisaRaye McCoy, JLo and Raven Symone, and Kim Kardashian as those previously assigned the label.
But dozens of Generation Zs were stunned by the revelations, claiming that people were just “made up.”
The debate even caught the attention of singer Lizzo who took to TikTok to share her own thoughts on the discourse.
A Twitter thread has gone viral after exposing a slew of celebrities who were considered “fat” in the early 2000s — including LisaRaye McCoy (seen), JLo, and Kim Kardashian
Many Twitter users chimed in on the thread with examples of slim stars considered curvy, noting how much body norms have changed
Singer Jordin Sparks was cited as a ‘perfect example of someone who was considered fat’
Another user posted a photo of a slim Kim on the red carpet at an event in the early 2000s
The thread was started by user @Whitleysdaughtr who started by posting a photo of LisaRaye McCoy next to a caption that read, “Another reminder of the women we considered ‘fat’ in the 2000s.”
While sharing snaps of the famous faces, she wrote, “JLo made people go crazy over what is considered a teaspoon** these days. The standards of fat have certainly evolved.
Jordan Sparks is a perfect example of someone who was considered fat at the time. When she and Raven Symone lost weight, many people, yes even Black, cheered!
“Kim Kardashian in the early 2000s when she became popular because everyone was in awe of a ‘fat’ white woman.”
Her list went on, but other social media users quickly jumped on the bandwagon with images of Ki Toy Johnson, Buffie Carruth, and Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones all added to the thread.
But despite the overwhelming examples cited, there were many who didn’t believe the women were ever considered “fat,” as one user wrote, “You’re just really making it up.”
And it was the disbelief that led singer Lizzo to respond to the thread with a clip shared on TikTok.
In her video, which has been viewed more than 408,000 times to date, Lizzo spoke directly to the camera to talk about the thread.
Others also jumped on the bandwagon with images of Ki Toy Johnson, Buffie Carruth, and Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones, all added to the thread
She begins: ‘Early 2000s, [LisaRaye] was considered the definition of fat.
“Another one of our 2000s fat icons is JLo whose booty was super duper duper, hailed as juicy and big and fat and garbage truck-like.
“Like these video vixens here [referencing Ki Toy Johnson and Buffie Carruth] who were known for being so fat they thought their bodies were fake.
“People used to accuse them of having fake bodies.”
The hitmaker continued, “It’s just another day on Twitter, everyone has a discourse, but I noticed in the comments that people don’t believe these tweets.
“There are people who say, ‘You guys just say everything, this isn’t true, this isn’t fat’ — and it’s important to note that many of these people weren’t born or babies in this era.”
The debate even caught the attention of singer Lizzo who took to TikTok to share her own thoughts on the discourse
The hitmaker said: ‘It’s just another day on Twitter, everyone has a discourse, but I noticed in the comments that people don’t believe these tweets’
“I’m not here to convince you that beauty standards were different back then… what I’m doing here is just noting how quickly the conversation and culture can change.
“It only takes 20 years to completely erase an ideal, a thought, a pattern, behavior, the way we treat people, the way we talk about people.
“It’s important to remember that you have to move forward to prevent erasure and also to get rid of some of this toxic behavior that we now praise in the culture.”
“It doesn’t take much to shift a narrative again and shift a paradigm.”
She concludes, “Being an early pioneer in the body-positive movement and watching it evolve toward body-neutrality is humbling. It is an honor.
“Watching the definition of going fat from J.Lo to Beyoncé to Tacarra to Precious Lee was a dream to watch.
“This is a reminder that there will always be another conversation, there will always be another fight, and every move will offset the next move.
“The status quo is meant to be pushed. It’s meant to be developed, so if you feel like you’re the odd one out or if you feel like you’re not like everyone else, just be yourself and watch the world catch up to you.”