At the first-ever Beacher Vitality Happy & Healthy Summit in Los Angeles, Kelly Osbourne, who is 40 years old, spoke strongly about how common body shaming is and how it has affected her life. Osbourne, who is known for her work in reality TV and as a former co-host of “Fashion Police,” shared that the criticism she received about her weight was much worse than the negativity she faced during her struggles with addiction.
“We live in a world that fears fat,” she told the crowd, according to People. “I have been a drug addict, an alcoholic… I’ve been a complete mess, rude to people, awful — but I got more hate for being fat than for anything else. It’s crazy.” This shows just how harsh the body shaming was for her, pointing out the pressure and judgment she dealt with because of her weight.
Osbourne explained that any article about her always included remarks about her weight, a never-ending wave of negativity that continued even when she was going through serious personal struggles. Page Six reported that she remembered the usual mean compliments: “People would say, ‘You’re so pretty. Why don’t you just lose a little weight, and then you’ll be perfect?’”
Kelly Osbourne shares personal trauma of body shaming
Osbourne’s weight loss journey wasn’t just about changing her body; it was also deeply connected to her mental and emotional health. She said she “tried everything” to lose weight, including surgery, medication, dieting, and exercise. But she made it clear that real progress only happened after she worked on her mental health. “I got my mind where it needed to be, and then everything started to work out,” she said, stressing that it wasn’t as simple as just eating differently and working out more.
You have to change your thinking. You have to accept where you are in life before you can make progress.” This shows how important self-acceptance and mental health are for lasting weight loss. In 2020, Osbourne shared publicly that she had gastric sleeve surgery, calling it “the best thing I have ever done” on the Hollywood Raw podcast. But she made sure to say that the surgery wasn’t an easy solution; it required mental preparation and sticking to healthy habits afterward.
“The kind of surgery I had… if you don’t exercise and eat right, you gain weight. It just helps you move in the right direction,” she explained, emphasizing that the surgery alone wasn’t enough without effort and lifestyle changes. She also shared that she went through a year of therapy before having the surgery.
Osbourne’s struggles with addiction stand in sharp contrast to how much people focused on her weight. She first got sober in 2017 but relapsed in 2021 before becoming sober again. In 2020, she shared that her substance abuse problems started when she was 13, after she had tonsil surgery and was prescribed opioids.
