Tess Holliday calls out media for publishing photos of her eating

‘If we want to live in a better, kinder world, we need to reject this kind of harmful behaviour,’ model says

Tess Holliday accuses media of only publishing paparazzi photos of her eating (Getty Images)

Tess Holliday has called out media publications for publishing photos of her eating during a recent trip to Disneyland.

On Tuesday, the body positivity activist addressed paparazzi photos published by the DailyMail and DailyMirror on Twitter, where she accused the outlets of choosing photos of her “at my most tired and only in the moments when I was eating food”.

“This week, I went to Disneyland with my family. In the 10 hours I was there, I walked MILES, went on rides, and yea, ate some great food. The @DailyMail and @DailyMirror decided to share some paparazzi photos of me at my most tired and only in the moments when I was eating food,” Holliday wrote alongside screenshots of the photos published by the outlets.

In the photos, which include captions such as: “A Mickey ice cream proved just too tempting,” Holliday can be seen eating various snacks at the amusement park.

In a series of follow-up tweets, Holliday then claimed that the photos were chosen specifically to show “the version of me that THEY want the world to see: a fat person eating and being tired,” with the plus-size model noting that “smaller bodied public figures can eat whatever they want and somehow that’s either ignored or seen as cute”.

After questioning why the photos of her are newsworthy, Holliday revealed that she would be using the opportunity to show some of the positive moments of “joy and excitement” that she experienced during the outing with her four-year-old son Bowie.

“What they didn’t share was me and Bowie sharing all of our ice cream and taking bites one after the other and laughing. What they didn’t show was the reality of my life - that I am lucky to be in a position to spend a great day with my son at Disney,” she wrote alongside various photos she took during the visit.

The 36-year-old then accused the media of telling “everyone who looks like me that they are worthless” when they publish photos of her “through the lens of their fat phobic assumptions” and of creating “a breeding ground for body shaming comments”.

According to Holliday, the media’s “harmful” behaviour needs to be rejected in order to create a kinder world, with the model explaining how it can also be harmful to others who look like her.

“It’s corny and it’s harmful - not just to me, but to every single person who looks like me, which is a huge percentage of the world right now,” she continued. “To my community of fat folks/those that struggle with your body image: y’all are seen, valued, and appreciated just as you are RIGHT NOW.”

The body positivity advocate concluded the Twitter thread reminding her followers and fans that they are worthy of love, no matter what they look like.

Holliday’s tweets resonated with her followers, with many sharing messages of support and encouraging her not to let the photos bother her.

“Don’t let them bring you down. You are beautiful and an inspiration,” one person tweeted, while another said: “Hope you had an amazing day and enjoyed everything you did and ate! You look cute in all of these images.”