HOLLYWOOD—Just like the film industry, the music industry seems to be judgemental with the weight of its female stars. Fat-shaming in Hollywood is nothing new. It’s been around for decades, now the latest to be fat-shamed is Bebe Rexha. While it should be the happiest time of Bebe Rexha’s career: She’s up for not one, but two Grammys next month, but who is Bebe Rexha?
Bebe is a singer-songwriter. She grew up in Staten Island, New York and went to the same school as my daughters boyfriend. Rexha started as a songwriter, writing the memorable, Grammy-winning hook for Eminem and Rihanna’s “The Monster.” In 2015, she appeared alongside Nicki Minaj and Afrojack on David Guetta’s “Hey Mama,” the credits of which she was left off at first, being the least-known performer. What ended up happening was that it looked like a lot of names on the title. Then: “Me, Myself, & I” alongside G-Eazy, a song that would end up on his album. Then, came a gig hosting the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards, to make her famous.
So it took a while, including trying out for “American Idol,” where she didn’t make the cut. She actually auditioned for the show, meaning she had to stand in long lines and be rejected. They only invite you on “American Idol,” if you are a mentor on the show. Then you get paid.
Unfortunately, she turned to Instagram to let everyone know that designers think that the “Meant to Be” singer is struggling to find something to wear to the ceremony. Designers have the audacity, to tell her she’s too “big.” This anger was expressed last night on two social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram. She finally hits it big, in my book, getting nominated for a Grammy is making it. By that I mean, attending the Grammys because you’re nominated or you are asked to perform. That’s huge, not just being in the audience because you bought tickets. Bebe Rexha complained that she’s having trouble finding a designer to custom make her dress for the Grammys.
The Best New Artist nominee, which is a big deal, is claiming some of the designers she approached did not want to make her dress because she’s a size 8. “If a size 6/8 is ‘too big’ then I don’t know what to tell you,” Rexha said in an Instagram video.
“I don’t want to wear your [expletive] dresses, ’cause that’s crazy.” The 29-year-old continued: “You’re saying that all the women in the world that are size 8 and up are not beautiful and they cannot wear your dresses.” In a caption for the video, she wrote: “I’m sorry, I had to get this off my chest. If you don’t like my fashion style or my music that’s one thing. But don’t say you can’t dress someone that isn’t a runway size. Empower women to love their bodies instead of making girls and women feel less than by their size.”
She signed off by saying her “size 8” would still be going to the awards ceremony on Sunday, February 10. Rexha did not name the designers who allegedly turned her down – but her situation is not unique.
She’s not alone, “Will & Grace” actress Megan Mullaly recently revealed she had to buy her dress for this year’s Screen Actors’ Guild Awards online.
“Designers do not send me dresses,” she wrote on Instagram, “even though there is literally a 100 per cent chance that I will be on camera, because I’M HOSTING.” At the 2017 Emmys, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star Rachel Bloom told reporters her Gucci dress was off the rack as designers did not want to dress her body type. And Melissa McCarthy said she was rejected by several designers ahead of the 2012 Oscars, where she was nominated for her breakout role in “Bridesmaids.”
“I asked five or six designers – very high-level ones who make lots of dresses for people – and they all said no,” she later told Redbook magazine. McCarthy ended up wearing a gown by Marina Rinaldi, a designer who specializes in women sizes 10 to 22.
Rexha’s predicament comes a year after musicians used the Grammys to campaign for female equality, with artists of both sexes bringing white roses to the ceremony.The singer, whose hits include “Meant to Be and Me,” “Myself & I,” has long been an advocate for women’s rights and runs regular ‘Women In Harmony’ events to support fellow artists and producers. It would be interesting to see what she will be wearing for the Grammys.
Rose’s Scoop: Drake has announced new tour dates across Europe and the UK. He’ll play six gigs in London, three in Birmingham and two in Manchester, where the tour starts, in March and April.
