‘Dear Fat People’: Is The Nicole Arbour Fat-Shaming Video Fake, YouTube Ban A Publicity Stunt?
Yesterday, the Inquisitr published an opinion piece discussing a vitriolic YouTube video featuring Canadian comedian Nicole Arbour, entitled “Dear Fat People,” and the comedian’s claim that she had been censored by YouTube.
“Holy S**t we LITERALLY broke the Internet!!!” is written in a Facebook post made to an account verified to be owned by Nicole Arbour.
“CNN picked up the story about my channel on YouTube magically being disabled. It’s back up since they posted this!!!… but all my videos are gone,” was later posted to the Nicole Arbour account.
Currently, the NSFW “Dear Fat People” fat-shaming video apparently produced by Arbour is available for viewing.
Twitter user Bogiee2988 posted screenshots showing the difference between a YouTube account that has been censored and a YouTube account that has been set to private, which Arbour’s account appeared to be consistent with.
For the record, here is what a banned youtube account looks like. screenshot taken 30 seconds ago. pic.twitter.com/R4m5DaBkv3
— Boogie2988 (@Boogie2988) September 6, 2015
@Boogie2988 and this is what an account set to private looks like. pic.twitter.com/4yyEd7AjTP
— Boogie2988 (@Boogie2988) September 6, 2015
As an individual pulling a publicity stunt might hope, many Twitter and Facebook users took to social media to convey their disgust with the caustic “Dear Fat People” video and show their support for the apparent move by YouTube to shut the Nicole Arbour account down.
Others recognized that while being hateful, the Arbour video probably didn’t violate any hate-speech statutes and that the story didn’t add up.
Many satirical programs, such as Family Guy and The Simpsons, regularly mock fat people, albeit in a less drawn-out and mordant manner. Though not always, fat-shaming in satire is often used as a statement about the speaker, more-so than its target. There are also many examples of Peter Griffin, Homer Simpson, and others being mocked outright for perceived weight problems.
When considering available evidence, including Arbour’s revelation that CNN is covering her story about being censored, Arbour’s statement that her followers “broke the Internet,” that the Nicole Arbour YouTube account did not show typical signs of being banned, and the sheer amount of attention and visitors Arbour’s Facebook and YouTube accounts have received, drawing the conclusion that Nicole Arbour has pulled a massively successful publicity stunt would appear to be reasonable.
“Fat-shaming is not a thing. Fat people made that up. That’s the race card with no race,” Arbour can be heard stating.
“Yeah, but I couldn’t fit into a store, that’s discrimination,” Arbour mock-answers herself in a deepened voice.
“Uh, no that means you’re too fat and you should stop eating. Everybody just needs to make more sense. There’s a race card. There’s a disability card. There’s even a gay card. Because gay people are discriminated against, wrongfully so. The gay card’s covered in glitter, it’s f***king magical. Are you going to tell the doctor that they’re mean and fat-shaming you when they say you have f***king heart disease?” Arbour’s rant continues.
While writing fat-shaming scripts for fictional characters may be offensive, at least it is fictional characters, for the most part, who bear the shame. One would hope that the type of publicity Nicole Arbour is receiving, the hurt she is causing others, and the damage she may be doing to herself is worth the clicks and likes.
[Screenshot Courtesy Nicole Arbour/YouTube — Facebook Screenshot Courtesy Nicole Arbour/Facebook]
