TikTok star Charli D’Amelio has opened up about her experience struggling from an eating disorder in the hopes of helping others.
On Thursday, the 16-year-old revealed in a lengthy post on her Instagram Story that she has been “afraid to share that I have an eating disorder”.
“I’ve always tried to use my voice when it comes to issues surrounding body image, but I’ve never talked about my own struggles with eating disorders,” D’Amelio wrote. “It’s so uncomfortable to admit to even your closest friends and family, let alone the world.
“I’ve been afraid to share that I have an eating disorder, but ultimately I hope that by sharing this I can help someone else. I know eating disorders are something that so many other people are also battling behind closed doors.”
D'Amelio, who is the most-followed person on TikTok with more than 86.1m followers, then apologised to her followers for any unintentional harm she may have caused by dancing to a song with “triggering” lyrics.
“To anyone I could have hurt by unintentionally playing a song and not realising that those lyrics could have triggered you, I deeply and truly apologise," the dancer wrote, appearing to reference backlash over a now-deleted TikTok which saw her lip-syncing to Beach Bunny's song Prom Queen.
The song includes lyrics such as: “Shut up, count your calories" and "Wish I, was like you, blue-eyed blondie, perfect body."
Beach Bunny has previously defended the lyrics in a pinned comment on YouTube, where she said the song is “in no way meant to glamorise, encourage, or promote eating disorders, body hatred, or body shaming in any form” and the lyrics are a “criticism on modern beauty standards and the harmful effects beauty standards can have on people”.
“I hope you know that I never intended to cause you harm,” D’Amelio added.
The social media star continued: “For anyone that is struggling with this, I know some days can be worse than others," and shared a link to the National Eating Disorders Association's website.
“I need you to know you are not alone. Remember it's okay to reach out and get help," she concluded. "We all need help sometimes. I love you all and please stay strong."
D’Amelio’s post comes after she’s previously discussed the impact social media and cyber-bullying have had on her body image.
In February, the influencer opened up about some of the “hurtful” comments she’s read about herself online in a video to promote Safer Internet Day, explaining that the comments about her “body shape, my body type” hit “close to home because I struggled a lot with body image, body dysmorphia, bad eating habits.”
“No one really knows that," she added. "It hurts for everyone no matter who you are. Getting hundreds of thousands of hate comments per week is a lot to handle."
D’Amelio also called out body-shamers in April after she removed a bikini photo from Instagram over negative comments.
“STOP TALKING ABOUT MY BODY!” she tweeted at the time. “It’s not your place to tell me if i’m losing weight or gaining weight.”
