Valerie Bertinelli emotionally addresses body-shamers who told her to ‘lose weight’

It’s not uncommon for trolls on the internet to flood the comment sections of celebrities and openly criticizing them. But it is uncommon for a celebrity to directly address those trolls by calling out their cruel words directly, which is exactly what Valerie Bertinelli did over the weekend.

The Food Network star, who first became famous in the 1970s for starring on the OG version of One Day At A Time, shared an emotional video where she called out the body-shaming she receives from critics on social media.

One commenter in particular told her that she needed to “lose weight.”

“Someone…decided to point out that I need to lose weight,” she said in her video, posted to her Instagram stories and then later posted to her grid. “You’re not being helpful.”

As we age and as we go through different life changes and phases, our bodies change. For women in general, and especially famous women with large social media followings, it’s nearly impossible to escape the pressure to maintain a societally acceptable body standard. This is particularly true for famous women who have the audacity to age—do people really think Valerie Bertinelli is always supposed to look like she did in her late teens when she first became famous?

“When you see somebody who has put some weight on, my first thought is that person is obviously going through some things, because if I could lose the weight and keep it off, I would,” she said in the video. “But since I haven’t been successful with that my whole entire life, at 61 I’m still dealing with [it].”

Bertinelli has always been candid about her complicated relationship with food (in the past, she spent six years as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig and has publicly admitted she regrets it) and her body image. In her video, she expresses how exhausted she is of constantly being judged on her body and her looks.

Addressing the commenter directly, she added “You think I’m not tired of it, lady? Where’s the compassion. You think a stupid little comment like ‘you need to lose weight,’ not f—— helpful.”

Her son, Wolfie Van Halen, whom she shares with her late ex-husband Eddie Van Halen, shared his love and support of his mom in a sweet comment:

“You’re perfect the way you are, Ma,” he wrote. “I love you ❤️.”

“This video is everything,” said the Pioneer Woman herself, Ree Drummond, who also stars on the Food Network with Bertinelli. “Beautiful Valerie, you inspire, you encourage, and you make people feel like everything is good and right. You have done this your whole life. You win.”

Hopefully, this raw, emotional message of body acceptance resonates with everyone who needs to hear it. If nothing else, it should make people think twice before publicly commenting on anyone’s body for any reason, ever.