Actor Jameela Jamil and model Sara Sampaio had a lengthy back and forth discussion on Twitter Tuesday on the subject of the modeling industry, with the argument beginning after Jamil praised a size-inclusive fashion show that featured the models dancing while also speaking about smaller models in the process.
Oh my god 😍😍😍 this looks like the most fun, and not a long-starved terrified teenager in sight. Beautiful. https://t.co/hck5n6e9Xu
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 13, 2019
Sampaio responded by criticizing Jamil for her generalization and for speaking negatively about one group while lifting up another, writing, “How about celebrating someone without bringing other people down? Calling runway models ‘long-starved terrified teenager’ is extremely offensive. From someone that is always preaching for body positivity this just screams hypocrisy.”
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Jamil hit back by telling Sampaio that she didn’t “say all models” in her tweet and does not advocate for body positivity.
I also don’t preach “body positivity.” I talk about moving away from all talk of body, in order to combat our current pervasive issue of eating disorder culture, which is in NO small way perpetuated by the extreme thinness demanded of girls by the high fashion powers that be.
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 16, 2019
Sampaio responded that Jamil “still chose to attack girls just so you can celebrate others. Eating disorders, drugs and cocaine use aren’t a (sic) exclusive problem of models, it’s a huge problem [in] society as a whole.” She added that she didn’t appreciate Jamil appearing to insinuate that the majority of models “have eating disorders and drug problems, when that’s not the case. And about modeling I can for sure talk with more certainty than you. Sure that happens but it’s for sure not a vast majority. The point of my tweet though, wasn’t that one! And you know!”
Jamil made sure to point out in a later tweet that she was “calling out the shows and the industry. Not the kids.” The Good Place star also tweeted that she was previously a model and had worked in the fashion industry, providing examples of how she saw the business as harming young girls.
“I was a model, and a model agent and a lot of my friends are still models and agents,” she wrote. “Who are all struggling with ongoing unrealistic standards of this industry you benefit from, which is why you are fiercely defending it, and asking me to not call out its devastating wrongs.”
Saw so many teenage models smoking and taking drugs at NYFW, with skin and hair that showed me they weren’t eating enough, that it shook me to my core. Things are just not moving as fast as they need to in the direction of size, (and racial/disability inclusion) in high Fashion.
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) October 16, 2019
After Sampaio eventually tweeted, “This is the last I’ll say on this,” Jamil responded by pointing out that the Portugese model works for Victoria’s Secret, who has recently come under fire for its lack of inclusivity.
“You also proudly work for a transphobic, fat phobic company [Sara Sampaio],” she wrote. “Victoria’s Secret is a brand that sets out to exclude most women, so I would check yourself on that before you start policing me for calling out an industry wide epidemic of harm to young girls.”
Sampaio responded that she works for a company “that has made mistakes and that understands that and has been working on changing that,” to which Jamil wrote, “If you’re speaking out against what your company did then GREAT. I look forward to seeing your activism on that with your big profile.”
Photo Credit: Getty / Pablo Cuadra
