Gabourey Sidibe Slams Weight Loss Story: ‘I’m Not Amber Riley’
Everyone has been buzzing about Gabourey Sidibe’s incredible weight loss. The Empire star took to Instagram to share a new photo in which she looks slim and trim. She previously revealed to her fans that she went on a “crash diet” because she was tired of seeing herself in the mirror, reports Eurweb.
In Touch was one of the first outlets to report about Gabourey Sidibe’s weight loss, however, it’s not clear how she lost the weight or how much weight she lost. While Sidibe’s weight loss is incredible, the actress has always been accepting of her body. Sidibe has also made it clear in the past that she doesn’t want to be a role model for body positivity.
“My first diet started when I was six years old. I’ve never been a small girl,” Sidibe told Oprah Winfrey back in 2009, notes SandraRose.com. “One day I had to sit down with myself and I decide that I loved myself no matter what my body looked like and what other people thought about my body… I got tired of feeling bad all the time. I got tired of hating myself.”
But, according to Pajiba, Gabourey Sidibe’s weight loss story is somewhat fake. An outlet called Time to Break tweeted a list of celebrity weight losses, and included an image of Sidibe. However, they did not use her name, as they referred to her as Glee star Amber Riley. The outlet also said that the Precious star is finally “living up to her name” now that she’s lost weight.
She made her Hollywood debut in 2009 as Precious, but now 7 years on she is living up to her beautiful name. WOW! https://t.co/FBHS3EGZkn
— Time To Break (@timetobreaknow) August 25, 2016
Sidibe, who has finally been removed from the slideshow, noticed the website that used her image, and responded to it on Twitter, reports USA Today.
“1.) My name is Gabourey Sidibe. Put some RESPEK on it!” she responded to the tweet on Friday, Aug. 26 after the headline made the rounds on social media. “2.) Amber Riley and I are not the same person.”
In the NSFW tweet, Sidibe concluded her post with the middle finger emoji. She did not, however, address whether or not she lost weight. Sidibe has made it clear in the past that she’s comfortable with her body, whether or not she has lost weight. Back in March of this year, Sidibe showed off her body for V magazine’s 100th-anniversary issue. In the photo, as seen below, Sidibe is seen wearing lacy lingerie.
She was clearly proud of the photo, so she took to Instagram to post it for all of her followers to see. In the caption, Sidibe credited the publication and photographers, Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, for their work.
This isn’t Sidibe’s first time gracing the pages of V magazine. She was also the cover girl for the publication’s 2010 issue, reports SheKnows. Sidibe then posted a throwback photo of her 2010 cover, along with another thank you message.
Since Sidibe looks noticeably heavier in the throwback photo, fans have wondered if she really lost weight. One of the popular Google search terms is “Has Gabourey Sidibe lost weight?” Unfortunately, there are a lot of fake stories about how she really lost the weight. PK Baseline vaguely claims that Sidibe lost over 150 pounds with diet, exercise, and the “Hollywood weight loss secret” called Garcinia Cambogia.
According to both Diply and Providr, Sidibe lost 50 pounds, not 150, but neither of the reports mention how she did it. According to Sidibe’s Instagram, she packs a lot of healthy snacks for the times when she’s busy filming or away from home.
When and how Gabourey Sidibe lost weight is up for the actress to reveal. She will probably reveal her dramatic transformation when the time is right.
[Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images]
