It has been more than two decades since Alicia Machado’s reign as Miss Universe, but people still feel the need to comment on her body. The most recent incident was last week at a Spanish-language award show on Telemundo, where Machado attended and posted a photo of herself wearing a lacy red jumpsuit.
This was apparently too much for the internet, who proceeded to flood her Instagram post with their thoughts on her weight.
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“As a public figure, you’re overweight in my opinion. Those clothes do not suit her,” one person commented.
Another one wrote, “You look chubby. I don’t know if it’s your undergarments, but the extra pounds are noticeable.”
Do these people think they’re helping? Do they honestly think that Machado, after putting on the outfit and probably feeling like the beautiful boss she is, read the comments and thought “Wow, these people have a made a great point. I should change, or at the very least, put on some different undergarments.”
Nope. Like Kelly Clarkson, Ariel Winter and so many others before her, Machado hit back, confirming that she has, in fact, gained weight, and that it’s for her acting career. She also let her critics know that there’s more where that came from. She responded to one of the comments saying that she has another five pounds to gain “to appear even fatter” for her next character.
More: Kelly Clarkson Has No Time for Twitter Body-Shamers
If Machado looks or sounds familiar, aside from being Miss Universe 1996, it’s because she also came up during the 2016 American presidential election. Last year, she spoke out about how then-candidate Donald Trump — who owned the pageant at the time — called her “Miss Piggy” while she was Miss Universe. Never one to let an opportunity to cut down a woman based on appearance pass him by, Trump defended his comments from 20 years prior, saying that she “gained a massive amount of weight” which he said was a “problem” for a titleholder. This triggered an outpouring of hateful comments about Machado’s body from Trump supporters.
But then — like now — Machado wasn’t having any of it, telling People en Español: “They won’t intimidate me because I’m backed up by the truth. As long as I’m firm and strong in my convictions, I’m at peace and moving forward.”
That’s right, Alicia — move forward and wear red lacy jumpsuits while you’re at it, because you look amazing.
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