The Time Kirstie Alley And George Lopez Feuded Over Body-Shaming Jokes
We all grew up hearing the saying that sticks and stones can break bones but words don't hurt. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Words can and do hurt, and have the potential to do long-lasting damage to a person's psyche and self-esteem. Social media is rife with people trolling each other, saying the most nasty things for clout or for just the sake of being mean. At the receiving end of a lot of these foul comments are celebrities.
Some people believe that celebrities can take harsh words and criticism better than the average Joe just because they are famous. As a result, celebrities get bullied day in and day out online. However, celebrities aren't made of steel and, being human as well, they have real feelings and insecurities just like the rest of us and negative words do hurt them. So, many celebrities have been on the receiving end of crude comments, even by other celebrities. One star who suffered this to another level was Kirstie Alley.
Before her tragic death, Kirstie Alley faced a lot of criticism about her weight, especially from the media and other personalities, so much so that it led to some bad blood. One feud that particularly stood out happened after a distasteful, body-shaming joke made by actor and comedian George Lopez.
George Lopez called Kirstie a pig because of her weight
We all know that Hollywood is a shallow industry with prime importance being placed on looks. Gaining weight could mean, at the very least, being turned into the butt of hurtful jokes and being ridiculously body-shamed, and at worst, losing jobs and roles.
Kirstie Alley witnessed this firsthand after a period of rapid weight gain in 2011. The then 60-year-old actor competed in the celebrity dance show "Dancing With The Stars" and gave a great performance. However, talk show host George Lopez had a few derogatory comments about the "Cheers" actor's body. On his TBS show, "Lopez Tonight," the comedian likened Alley's appearance to a pig. "She did a nice job, her little hooves tapping away," Lopez joked. "Before the show, she went to the market, and then she had roast beef and this is her going all the way home!" He then proceeded to play a clip of a squealing pig from an insurance commercial which, needless to say, was way out of line.
The joke obviously didn't sit well with Alley and she didn't take the insult lying down. The actor took to Twitter to reassure fans defending her and throw some shade in Lopez's direction. She wrote: "Don't worry about George's comments. Just remember what happens to the big bad, drunk woolf ... falls in a boiling pot of vodka. Piggy laughs." To many, dry humor at the expense of someone else seems like a cheap shot for a renowned comedian.
Kirstie refused to accept George's apology
George Lopez's crude joke landed him in the celebrity dog house and he tweeted a formal apology to Kirstie Alley for body-shaming her. His tweet: "I misjudged the joke. No malice was intended and I apologize to Kirstie."
Calling someone a pig and playing a video of a squealing swine sounded a bit worse than a case of misjudgment, and Alley wasn't buying it. As recorded by the Daily Mail, she retaliated by telling Lopez to keep his apology while making fun of the kidney transplant he obtained from his wife in order to fix a genetic health condition, saying, "I don't need or want ur apology...I want your kidney dude..on behalf of ur X and all the women you have." Ouch.
Alley's weight gain, though a personal matter, was the subject of a great many headlines about her, even to the point where she got her own reality show based on shedding some pounds called "Kirstie Alley's Big Life." The late star made it clear during a Wendy Williams appearance in 2015 that while her weight had always fluctuated, she got exponentially heavier once she hit 53. By this time the "Star Trek" actor had lost 50 pounds. When asked how she had gained her weight back prior to then, she replied, "Well, I just ate too much," and laughed it off and blamed the rest on "men tragedies," something we can all relate to a little too well.