Supermodel Kate Moss was once heavily criticized for telling fans around the world, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” People were offended by the fat-shaming comment. With years of hindsight, does Moss regret her statement?
Moss’s 2009 Mantra
The phrase was originally published in 2009 in a Women’s Wear Daily interview with the model. She was asked if she had any mantras. Moss replied, “There are loads of mottos. There’s ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’. That’s one of them. You try and remember, but it never works.”
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Moss’s comments caused an uproar, and still do years later. She was accused of encouraging young girls to develop eating disorders as well as shaming people who weren’t as rail-thin as famous models at the time. The phrase was adopted by many eating disorder-promoting websites, causing the quote to go viral.
Moss Got Blasted For ‘Regrettable’ Comment
The eating disorder charity Beat said at the time, “For [Moss] to even inadvertently legitimize something that could be potentially so harmful is regrettable.” Meanwhile, the model’s reps insisted the comment was taken out of context.
Not everyone immediately criticized Moss for the phrase.CNN added the quote to their “Top 20 quotes of 2009” list, while Cosmopolitan named it one of the “Most Insane Things Celebs Said” that year. However, the model was blasted by people around the world, including some fellow models.
British model Katie Green said, “There are 1.1 million eating disorders in the UK alone. Kate Moss’s comments are likely to cause many more. If you read any of the pro-anorexia websites, they go crazy for quotes like this.”
Does Moss Regret Saying It?
Almost ten years after the comments were made, Moss was interviewed by Megyn Kelly and was asked about what she said. The supermodel responded, “My friend used to say it. Because you know, we were all living together, and we’d go for the biscuits and go, ‘Oh, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.’ It’s a little jingle.”
When asked about the state of the modeling industry today, Moss said, “There’s so much more diversity now, I think it’s right. There’s so many different sizes and colors and heights. Why would you just be a one-size model and being represented for all of these people? So yes, for sure, it’s better.”
Moss’ comments about weight loss are still used online today, but people now understand how harmful that phrase really is—and are happy the supermodel has reevaluated her thoughts on how a person should look.