#popsingersdonteat: Lady Gaga Tweets About Not Eating, Offends Followers

Yesterday, a controversial tweet joking about eating disorders from Lady Gaga -- the most popular celebrity on Twitter, with over 22 million followers -- gave rise to a slew of angry responses. Gaga wrote:

@ladygaga
Lady Gaga

Just killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IWasBornThisWay

April 10, 2012 8:18 pm via Twitter for iPad Reply Retweet Favorite

It was a surprising statement from Gaga, who has publicly opened up about her struggle with bulimia and urged young women to cultivate healthy body image. During an appearance at a young women's conference in Los Angeles in February, the singer admitted that she was bulimic in high school, and said that she was obsessed with being a "skinny little ballerina."

In response to the tweet, the National Eating Disorder Association staff Twitter account wrote: "Huh? This is the same person who recently implored girls to stop dieting?"

Some of Gaga's fans defended the tweet, saying that it was just a joke and was intended to be ironic. However, the responses were largely negative. For example, one of Gaga's followers tweeted:

@AyshaFalco
-Aysha Falco

@ladygaga why would you even promote a message like that? Disgusting that you'd joke about such a serious illness..

April 10, 2012 9:03 pm via web Reply Retweet Favorite

Whether or not the tweet was meant to be funny, eating disorders are not a joke -- in fact, they have the highest death rate of any mental illness. Another pop singer, Demi Lovato, took to Twitter in December to highlight the seriousness of the issue. After an eating disorder joke was made on the Disney Channel show "Shake It Up," Demi tweeted: "Dear Disney Channel, EATING DISORDERS ARE NOT SOMETHING TO JOKE ABOUT." Subsequently, the network apologized and the two episodes in question were pulled from the air.

Miley Cyrus has also taken to Twitter recently to address eating disorders -- but in this case, she was refuting rumors that she might have a problem. She wrote, "For everyone calling me anorexic I have a gluten and lactose allergy. It's not about weight it's about health." In another tweet, she encouraged her fans to go gluten-free for a week. And although many people enjoy good health on a gluten-free diet, it isn't right for everyone -- and critics have questioned Cyrus's decision to dispense health advice to her fans.

What do you think -- is Gaga's tweet offensive, or is it okay if it's just a joke? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story indicated that the tweet specifically referenced eating disorders. In fact, it addresses not eating.

Comments

[Sarah Tink Van Diesel]

09:37 PM on 05/22/2012

Hint America -salads are healthier than cheeseburgers.

[26snr]

05:30 PM on 05/14/2012

I dont think she ment it in a bad way ppl.. geez
Pop stars have to be thin because if not they would be made fun of .
so yea if your legs have the spot light and everyone is looking for a dimple you would be doing the same.

[Hamilton22]

01:20 AM on 04/18/2012

Does anyone ever think Lady Gaga looks at people's complaints and says, "it was a goddamn joke". People need thicker skins...

[froggyanearl]

08:52 AM on 04/14/2012

Dont see the concern, so she should have eaten a cheeseburger after excercising? That makes no sense. People are getting to sensitive. She wasnt making a joke about eating disorders. What she was doing was promoting healthy eating habits, you excercise to burn unwanted calories or to stay fit, you dont then throw back a cheesburger you eat healthy, you eat a salad! I'm not a Lady gaga fan at all, but Im also not petty enough to jump on the stupidist thing just so I can run her down either. Lady gaga gives us plenty or legitmate stuff to critisize her for this is far from a legitmate complaint.

[anandaone]

06:58 AM on 04/14/2012

With the spiraling, rampant obesity issues as an epidemic in this country, You'll forgive me if I don't join in on the moaning and wailing about what Gaga said.

The only ones getting upset about this are the obese and overweight, looking to (mis)direct their frustrations at somebody -- anybody -- else. The biggest eating disorder in the country, by far, is obesity, anorexia and bulimia aren't even a close second, combined.

[Cara Lorello]

11:31 PM on 04/13/2012

Let's all remember that Gaga works in an extremely diabolical industry where warped images of beauty abound and so do mixed signals on what's right and wrong, more so than in our regular world. I understand and commend NEDA for its efforts to change views and eliminate encouragement of unhealthy lifestyles, but sometimes they overstep where they think they might be helping and here is one such case. I think we should commend celebrities like Gaga who are forthcoming and candid with their personal stories on subjects that are still very taboo and a lot of shame and secrecy surrounds. Can't we, too, all be in agreement we make light of how crazy the lengths we go in the name of beauty, we've all done it, and our friends don't launch a hate campaign against us when we do as the tweeter haters are doing to her. Gaga should not be the target here.

[JughedJones]

11:19 PM on 04/13/2012

Good God.

This is when I realize how overly sensitive people are. Get a grip on yourselves.

And eating disorders = 1st world problems.

[Cara Lorello]

11:17 PM on 04/13/2012

Let's not forget, naysayers, Gaga works in a messed up industry where mixed messages on taboo topics like EDs abound as much as they do in our world, maybe more. We can commend her for being open and candid on her personal story when so much of it is clouded in shame and secret. The NEDA I understand is trying to eliminate all negative talk, but let's be honest and admit we all joke about the crazy lengths we go to fit impossible molds of beauty, and Gaga's comment was nothing less or more.
We can all agree our society's standards of beauty are unrealistic, but until the rest of the industry becomes more open minded, let's not be so quick to brand Lady Gaga as pro-ana/mia, which she is clearly not.

[ElTommo]

07:37 PM on 04/13/2012

Vis-a-vis Miley Cyrus' gluten-free recommendation...as much as I loathe that girl, I seriously detest the way people freak out whenever someone recommends people try cutting out glutens. "IT'S NOT FOR EVERYONE ZOMG." No one can possibly be HURT by cutting glutens out of their diet, they aren't required for ANYTHING.

[Bfry420]

06:14 PM on 04/13/2012

Sometimes I get so busy I don't have time to eat. I could be wrong but that's how I take it.

[AshleyAlright]

03:44 PM on 04/13/2012

I think they're getting the eating disorder joke part not from the tweet it's self but the hashtag part. "#popsingersdonteat" obviously, it's not that hard to read NOT just her tweet but also the hashtags involved.

[anandaone]

07:01 AM on 04/14/2012

But so what, either way? Have you looked around lately? That's good advice.

[HooYoo2say]

03:36 PM on 04/13/2012

I think it was her hashtag #popsingersdonteat that concerned people. As many young girls idolize GaGa and dream of fame that statement could be taken to heart by many. Hence the article's title leading off with that hashtag.

[CMB1969]

03:04 PM on 04/13/2012

Not really a Lady G fan (I'm over 40 and a straight-identified male...), but how exactly is a tweet saying that she opted for a salad over a cheeseburger (presumably for calorie reasons, it do understand) getting interpreted to mean that she is belittling eating disorders? A decent sized salad with a range of toppings is a fine choice for a light lunch.

[Chowdog]

12:55 PM on 04/13/2012

I love cheeseburgers, I respect salads, I dig Lady Gaga. This is a nothing flap--although a salad isn't necessarily a better option than a cheeseburger--though for a vegetarian or vegan it likely is. Lately, given the pink slime that makes up a great deal of our ground meat, though, the salad likely wins if it wasn't packed in a bag and shipped across country contaminated with lisisteria

[Stanislav Meiner]

12:12 PM on 04/13/2012

It is just insane she is being criticized for this. And it shows how extreme supporters of an important cause can get. Yes, eating disorders are a serious issue. But dieting is not the same as bulimia. Many people eat in a healthy way, but are tempted by memories of less healthy choices. To make a joke about that has nothing to do with eating disorders, any more than a joke about someone burning their hand on a stove has anything to do with someone dying in a house fire. And are those combating eating disorders seriously saying people SHOULD eat cheeseburgers?
You can eat healthily and adequately without eating crap. The fact that you're still sometimes tempted to eat crap really isn't such a terrible thing to joke about.