Update: Christina’s rep denies these comments. “They are fake,” he says. [source]
Christina Aguilera has been catching a lot of slack for her recent weight gain, but many would be surprised to know that her battle with size isn’t a new issue. In an interview for the latest issue of Billboard magazine, the singer talks about her weight struggles and the pressure to stay thin by her label heads. She even goes into detail surround an ’emergency meeting’ held by the label to save her career.
She recalls during the ‘Stripped’ era:
“During the promotion of my album Stripped [in 2002], I got tired of being a skinny, white girl. I am Ecuadorian but people felt so safe passing me off as a skinny, blue-eyed white girl. The next time my label saw me, I was heavier, darker and full of piercings! [Laughs] Let me tell you, that wasn’t an easy pill for them to swallow. I had gained about 15 pounds during promotion and during my Stripped tour [with Justin Timberlake, 31]. They called this serious emergency meeting about how there was a lot of backlash about my weight. Basically, they told me I would effect a lot of people if I gained weight — the production, musical directors. [They claimed] people I toured with would also miss out if I gained weight because I would sell no records or tickets for my shows, I was young, so I lost the weight quickly and was toothpick thin during Back to Basics promos and touring.”
On being comfortable in her body now:
“I told them during this Lotus recording, ‘You are working with a fat girl. Know it now and get over it.’ They need a reminder sometimes that I don’t belong to them. It’s my body, My body can’t put anyone in jeopardy of not making money anymore—my body is just not on the table that way anymore.”
Kudos to Christina for standing up for her body. I definitely think it sends the right image to younger girls that you should love yourself no matter what as long as you’re healthy!
