Hollywood actress Emily Blunt’s fat-shaming comments have resurfaced online and now landed her in unpleasant controversy. The 40-year-old British actress issued an apology for the comments made during a 2012 appearance on the UK’s Jonathan Ross Show. The resurfaced clip from the TV interview caused quite a stir on social media, prompting the actress to clarify it directly. Let’s take a look at Emily Blunt’s fat-shaming comments from the resurfaced 2012 TV interview and her subsequent apology.
Emily Blunt’s apology for fat-shaming
The Oppenheimer actress is usually far away from controversy but this time, a viral clip from an interview that took place over a decade ago has sparked backlash against her. As a result, the actress had to express her deep regret for her fat-shaming comments in a public apology.
Emily Blunt being blatantly fatphobic wasn’t on my 2023 bingo card but here we are pic.twitter.com/iD4fyMFF0t
— orca supporter (@justmarahere) October 19, 2023
Referring to her comments, Emily Blunt stated that she was appalled to have said something so insensitive, hurtful and unrelated to what they were discussing on the talk show. She said she is someone who wouldn’t upset anyone and that the moment itself was unrecognizable to her.
The actress continued to apologize to everyone for any hurt she may have caused. She also acknowledged that she was old enough to know better at the time of the incident.
More About the 2012 TV Interview
The controversy started from Emily Blunt’s appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2012, while she was promoting the film ‘Looper’. In the now-viral clip, the actress comments about how a waiter at Chili’s who was serving her was ‘enormous’.
On the September 22, 2012 episode of the talk show, Blunt appeared alongside other guests like English comedian John Bishop, the recently-deceased Harry Potter actor Michael Gambon, and music producers David Guetta and Jack Antonoff.
While the talk show is usually lighthearted and informal, the seemingly casual comment has now become a subject of major controversy and public scrutiny.
Emily Blunt in Oppenheimer
In recent news, Emily Blunt’s role in Oppenheimer had received a lot of praise from audiences around the world. The actress played Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, the wife of J. Robert Oppenheimer, in Christopher Nolan’s IMAX biopic about the father of the atomic bomb.
EW predicts around 15 nominations for #Oppenheimer at the Oscars:
“You could fill the whole supporting actor category with nominees from this movie. And I think it's got a strong shot at supporting actress as well for Emily Blunt." pic.twitter.com/kJ4Qc9mLbH
— best of emily blunt (@badpostblunt) October 15, 2023
As things stand, Emily Blunt seems like a strong contender for her first ever Academy Award nomination, specifically in the Best Supporting Actress category. An Oscar win is likely to wipe her slate clean off the recent fat-shaming comments controversy.
Social Media Reactions
At first, social media users had strong reactions to the viral resurfaced clip of Emily Blunt’s fat-shaming comments against the Chili’s waitress. People condemned her views as insensitive and demanded a public apology.
Not my norm content but can we just take note of the fact #EmilyBlunt only used the word ‘enormous’ because #JonathonRoss did! Everyone is so focused on Emily’s part of the convo. Watch what he says first, she’s simply validating what he says, it’s not that bad in context!! pic.twitter.com/zRtP6ZMrbZ
— Rae 👩🏻 John Krasinski updates (@RainbowRaeee) October 21, 2023
Initially, many fans were upset that Emily Blunt had fallen out of public favor and tarnished her reputation as an individual. Once the actress herself released a statement regarding the issue, things seemed to calm down as many appreciated her honesty.
this is the unedited video of emily blunt from that show. the other one was taken out of context. and it’s been 11 years grow up. pic.twitter.com/o7yZoiQBqH
— fay (@clairefoymilf) October 20, 2023
Some came to her defense suggesting that the actress had simply validated the host’s original comments in the clip. Others argued that a person should not have to apologize for something taken out of context from eleven years ago.
Should Emily Blunt be canceled for fat-shaming?
Cancel culture can take any celebrity into its long list of victims. It’s almost impossible for old comments to stay unseen or unheard, as Emily Blunt’s case clearly demonstrates. While the actress’ choice of words may have been poor, her apology is a step in the right direction.
theres a literal massacre happening in palestine with many innocent people being killed every second of the day and you guys worry more about what emily blunt said 11 years ago… weird
— emily blunt's manager (@twiceblunt) October 21, 2023
However, according to a section of social media users, the old video apparently reveals the actress’ true colors as a fatphobic individual. Regardless, the practice of shaming an individual for their appearance is truly an appalling practice.
Do you think Emily Blunt deserves to be ‘canceled’ for her fat-shaming comments from the 2012 TV interview? Or has it been too long to scrutinize and it’s just time for the public to let bygones be bygones?
