There’s No Good Way to Talk About Celebrities and Eating Disorders

When a patient is seeking treatment, Logue says, she does not use their appearance to express concern or as a motivator, because there are always other contributing factors. With a public figure, Logue says, we don’t have real insights into these factors. Instead, most people focus on what their body looks like.

Although a lot of commenters say they’re less worried about Grande individually and more concerned about the impact she may have on her young fans, Logue says focusing our efforts on celebrities’ appearances also doesn’t meaningfully combat aspirational thinness in our day-to-day lives, either.

“Talking about how you look fat, engaging in fatphobia, it’s all these things that are so normalized. And when I work with clients, that is the dangerous stuff,” she says. “I’ve never had a client sit down and say, ‘I got an eating disorder because I heard Demi Lovato had an eating disorder.’”

One big sign that the viral posts about celebrities aren’t helping people with eating disorders is that almost none of them share resources, such as links to groups like the National Eating Disorder Association. And many of the posts contain an undeniable strain of snark, cruelty, and carelessness. There are viral compilations of celebrity women with captions like “it’s not just Ariana,” most of which exclude celebrity men entirely. Some people have used AI tools to edit images of these women to make them appear obese and used them as memes, while others have analyzed every part of their bodies in photos to declare them too skinny.

Women in various stages of eating disorder recovery are actively grappling with the issue. Natália Franz, a Slovak actress, commented on one video about celebrities and eating disorders to say, “I wish more people were worried about me when I was not eating rather than normalizing it.”

Franz tells WIRED that she’s concerned about the influence celebrities have over their fans, and she’s hoping that the discourse can change the culture for her own daughter. She also says that her body image issues started at home and that parents need to be careful with how they talk about food and appearance around their kids.

“I actually think it’s weird this heated discussion is only about one celebrity,” Franz says. “But when you see so many celebrities getting this thin, it’s very obvious patriarchy is on the rise.”

Having a personal history with eating disorders can provide a more informed perspective, as evidenced by some of the more nuanced conversations happening online. But the reality is that eating disorders are complicated, multifaceted, and different from person to person. Outsiders cannot infer what is going on privately in any celebrity’s life based on the limited information they share with the public, but that doesn’t stop people from labeling those in their inner circle “enablers” or assuming that a break from the public eye means they’re seeking treatment for an eating disorder.

“Talking about this in a heightened, gossipy, fearmongering kind of way is not necessarily going to inspire people to get help,” says Keesha Amezcua, chief clinical officer at Alsana Eating Disorder Treatment Center. “A lot of people on social media platforms are not informed, they’re not educated, and they don’t know what they’re witnessing and participating in is incredibly unhealthy and harmful.”

The National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline provides resources about treatment options at 1-866-662-1235, or you can text “ALLIANCE” to 741741 if you are experiencing a crisis. More information can be found on the National Eating Disorder Association’s website.