Carly Pearce Opens Up About Calling Out Body Shamers on Social Media

Carly Pearce is opening up about the recent painful comments left for her on social media, criticizing her body. The 28-year-old admits it was hard for her to go public with the posts, but felt it was necessary for the world to hear.

“It was difficult for me to post. Nobody wants to show the bad pictures when you can post the wonderful photos from the [tour] photographers,” Pearce told Runner’s World. “I always want to remain true to who I am, and show that I go through this too.”

Following a show during the opening weekend of Pearce’s co-headlining The Way Back Tour with Russell Dickerson, Pearce checked her social media feed, only to find two people had left disparaging remarks for her.

“Are you pregnant?” asked one, and another said, “Cause you run 10 miles a day.” Both showed close-up pictures of Pearce’s stomach along with their remarks.

“Last night, I got off stage on a high from an amazing show in Iowa, where I headlined my second show of the weekend, hearing the entire crowd sing the words to my songs,” Pearce wrote, sharing screen shots of the hurtful remarks. “I checked my messages as I do every night after a show because I love y’all and love to see the fun you’ve had at the show, and then I saw these two messages.”

“Honestly I’m still in disbelief but I wanted to share this with you because I feel like this is important (especially for women) to see that WORDS ARE POWERFUL [and] no matter what, think before you speak and BE KIND,” she continued. “Body Shaming [and] Bullying ARE NEVER OKAY.”

Now that Pearce has reflected on the incident, she is glad she found the courage to call out those who felt the need to criticize her.

“I want people to think of me as somebody who is an advocate for health and taking care of your body. I’m not trying to run the most miles or eat the most healthy food, but to be an advocate of health and finding balance,” Pearce said. “I want to kill this body-shaming situation we’ve got going on, because it’s bulls—.”

The “Closer to You” singer hopes bringing the incident out in the open will inspire others to think twice before posting hurtful comments, regardless of who the person is.

“Bottom line, I think that people need to understand words are powerful and words hurt you,” Pearce said. “Your words are powerful, you don’t know everyone’s story and what they’ve gone through. People need to be mindful of that.”

Ultimately, Pearce hopes she is an inspiration to others to be confident in any size or shape.

“Love the skin you’re in,” Pearce said. “You’re never going to be 100 percent perfect in someone’s eyes.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Mike Coppola