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Lainey Wilson fired off a message to body-shaming internet trolls when she appeared on a recent episode of Reign With Josh Smith.
Smith said during his conversation with Wilson that it’s “crazy” that anyone feels they can comment on a woman’s body. He asked the reigning Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year about her experience receiving body-shaming comments, and what would she say to someone that thingks they can talk to someone that way?
“Kiss my fat a**,” Wilson responded with a laugh.
“I’m playing. I would say — well, first of all, my butt went viral on TikTok,” she said. “At first, I kind of thought it was funny because I was like, I’ve been working on music my whole life, and then all of a sudden, I feel like I’m gaining a lot of fans because of my rear end, you know? It was a weird thing. And I thought it was gonna be a quick little viral moment, and then something to laugh about, you know, whatever. But then it kept going on, and on, and then on, and it was still going on months later. It really went viral.
“I read way too many comments,” Wilson admitted. “I read way too many things that people had to say about me, and at the end of the day, I’m a storyteller. I think that words are powerful. That’s why I wanted to write music, because I think words are powerful. And even if you don’t believe it, what somebody says about you, even putting your eyes on it split second can kind of like, leave a little mark. You know?
Wilson said she “made a very conscious decision to stop reading” those comments. She reminded herself of her self-worth, though it’s been “a struggle” at times. In particular, as a female country artist who’s often photographed. “I’m a woman. I fluctuate. I could eat a burger tonight and I’m going to be 10 pounds heavier tomorrow. It just is what it is, and you’ve got people watching. …People have something to say about everything. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
The Whirlwind hitmaker went on to say she “trimmed up” after playing 186 shows in one year, “and then people had a lot to say about that, and thought I was on some stuff and it was just the weirdest thing. …It’s a weird thing to talk about the way that somebody looks. My parents did not raise me that way. They taught me to look at somebody’s heart, and from within, and so, I think some people didn’t get their butt whooped as a child and it shows. Truly.
“Hurt people hurt people,” Wilson added. “I really do think that, so I try to show them grace, too. But it’s hard.”
Throughout her conversation with Smith, Wilson also spoke about her passion for music as a child (including when she wrote her first song at 9 years old, and her job as a Hannah Montana impersonator), her earliest days in Nashville, mental health, being a female artist in a male-dominated industry, advice she received from Dolly Parton, and more. Listen to the full conversation on iHeartRadio.