Los Angeles:
TV host and actor James Corden has slammed Bill Maher over his recent comments about normalising fat-shaming.
Maher, who host HBO’s “Real Time”, recently made a statement on the show where he called for the return of “fat-shaming”.
“Fat-shaming doesn’t need to end. it needs to make a comeback. Some amount of shame is good,” he had said while discussing about obesity issues among people.
Corden on Thursday devoted an entire segment of his show “The Late Late Show”, where he revealed his struggle as a child dealing with obesity and fat-shaming.
“If making fun of fat people made them lose weight, there’d be no fat kids in schools and I’d have a six-pack right now… Fat-shaming never went anywhere. Ask literally any fat person, we are reminded of it all the time,” Corden said.
“There’s a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy and we’re not. We get it, we know. We know that being overweight isn’t good for us and I’ve struggled my entire life trying to manage my weight and I suck at it,” he added.
Corden also revealed that he has been on and off diets his entire life, but his body is what it is.
“We’re not all as lucky as Bill Maher, you know, we don’t all have a sense of superiority that burns 35,000 calories a day,” he added.
The actor pointed out that fat-shaming is not the way to handle a problem like obesity. He referenced to studies which show that fat-shaming can lead to depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behaviour.
“Fat-shaming is just bullying. And bullying only makes the problem worse. I don’t think stuff like this is going to solve the obesity epidemic,” Corden added.
