Meghan Trainor's viral hit "All About That Bass" launched the musician's career from part-time songwriter to full-time pop sensation in a matter of months. It's the reason she was able to perform on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon alongside The Roots, and it's the reason her cover of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" made major headlines.
That doesn't mean the 20-year-old starlet has escaped public controversy. In a lengthy interview with Pop Justice, the singer addressed the "skinny shaming" criticisms surrounding "All About That Bass" head on.
"I don’t criticize skinny people! I would never shame a skinny person!" she exclaimed. "I don’t know who would want to. I guess they stop listening immediately after I say ‘skinny b-tches’ and just turn it off. But I say, ‘Just kidding, I know even you think you are fat.' For instance, I have skinny friends and some of them will stand in front of the mirror and go, ‘Eugh, I’m just like so big.' And I’m standing there going, ‘Jesus! If you’re big then what am I?’ That’s not right. So I was just saying that. There was a huge Twitter account that made a blog about ‘This is a body shaming song.' I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, okay…’ I don’t get it. No, I would never shame a skinny person. It makes no sense."
The tune has also raised some eyebrows with women's rights activists who claim certain lines like "Yeah my mama she told me, 'Don't worry about your size' / She says, 'Boys like a little more booty to hold at night'" argue that the way to feel good about yourself is dependent on what men think.
"I’ve got a lot of feminists tweeting me, ‘Why have you got to talk about boys?’ I don’t know, man! I just wrote a fun song about loving your booty and loving your body!" she said. "I never had a problem getting boys, I still got ‘em, I still had fun. I don’t know. My mom never actually said those words, she’s a very shy person...my mom does tell me not to criticize myself. If I’d say, ‘I’m so fat.' she’d tell me not to be silly and that I was beautiful."
Read the full interview here.
