Kesha spoke about her eating disorders, and opened up about avoiding online trolls
At this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, Kesha joined a panel in which she spoke about internet abuse and her history of eating disorders.
Kesha, who is still currently embroiled in a legal dispute with her former producer Dr Luke, is constantly inspiring us. The singer has been through a lot in the last few years, whether it’s supporting others who are recovering from eating disorders or speaking about how her fans have helped her come back from the edge. However, through it all we have been totally in awe of her inherent strength, and inspired by her fortitude.
Now Kesha has spoken about her recovery and how she deals with online hate.
Talking during a panel at SXSW about how people can reclaim the internet alongside Refinery29‘s Amy Emmerich, the singe revealed that she generally avoids online spaces, instead opting to use the internet as a place to interact with her fans. In fact, she called the internet “not a healthy place for me.”
In particular, Kesha spoke about how she had to avoid comment sections because “there can be a million positive ones, but I always gravitate towards the one negative one.”
“I hold on to that and I internalize it and I know it’s an unhealthy habit. I’ve stopped reading comments,” she said. false
Kesha then spoke about why she decided to open up about her recovery from an eating disorder, and what she said is powerful.
"I want to talk about it because I want to help people, she said. "It can kill you. I almost died. I came very close, closer than I ever knew. By the time I entered rehab they were surprised I hadn’t had a stroke because I wasn’t consuming enough of anything.
The singer said that while she was starving herself, people would compliment her on how she looked, noting “little did they know they were encouraging me to starve myself to death.”
It was until she started ignoring online abuse, Kesha said, that she started to focus on her own well-being.
“Over the past couple of years I feel like I’ve become a woman in a lot of ways because I’m kind of reclaiming my personal space, my body, my music, and my life. With online it’s important to reclaim that space too,” she said.
"When I first came out as an artist I thought I had to be really tough and I was really young and I had no fucking idea what I was doing, she said. “I thought to overcompensate I had to act really tough and act like nothing affected me, I thought that was strength. I’ve since realized I’ve found a lot of strength in my vulnerabilities. A lot more people can relate to that.
We’re so incredible proud of and grateful to Kesha for speaking up on this important matter. It’s been inspiring to watch her journey, and we shall continue to support her as her ongoing legal battles continue.
