Melissa McCarthy recalled a time when a reporter asked about her “tremendous size,” and prepare to be angry
Melissa McCarthy has rightfully secured her place as one of Hollywood’s most talented performers. After showing off her comedic chops for years in roles like Bridesmaids and Spy, she also proved she can more than handle dramatic work in 2018’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?. Unfortunately, McCarthy’s success hasn’t kept her from becoming the target of sexist body-shaming. In an interview with InStyle published today, January 9th, McCarthy revealed that she’s been on the receiving end of inappropriate comments about her appearance on many occasions. She even recalled an interview she gave while doing press for Bridesmaids in which a journalist asked her about her “tremendous size.”
"He kept asking, 'Are you shocked that you actually work in this business at your tremendous size?'" McCarthy recalled. "He was like, 'Oh, your tremendous size, you can actually work?' I just remember all the blood drained out of me. I thought, 'With my tremendous size, I could tackle you so quickly.'"
McCarthy said that the reporter’s producer apologized to her after the interview and promised never to air the segment. And in a bit of poetic justice, she noted that the same reporter was fired for a later incident (he “later lost his job for a conversation he had on a bus with someone else. I won’t mention names, but just think about it,” she said).
However, that wasn’t the first—or last—time McCarthy dealt with cruel comments about her appearance. She told InStyle that it “happens all the time, to the point where it’s fascinating because they don’t do it to men,” noting that plus-size male actors are almost never asked about their weight. The actress also noted that, when promoting either Tammy or The Heat, a different reporter had asked her why she felt the need to “be so grotesque.”
"He goes, 'You look sloppy, you’re not wearing any makeup, your hair is not done, you’re yelling at people,'" she recalled. "I was like, 'Okay, so have you ever asked this of a guy? I’m playing a character. You need to get out more if you don’t think there are real women like that.'"
We’re beyond disgusted to hear that McCarthy—an Oscar-nominated performer—has had to deal with such sexist, offensive, and downright archaic questions and comments from “journalists” who should know far, far better. It’s time the industry gets the memo that unsolicited comments about other people’s appearances are never okay. Meanwhile, we’ll just continue to revel in Melissa McCarthy’s total badassness—as always.
