Kirstie Alley Considered Tabloid Reports On Her Weight ‘Malicious’

Like any popular Hollywood star, Kirstie Alley was usually in the news, and it mostly related to her roles or movies she starred in. However, the late actress had an unpleasant experience with media outlets in the 2000s over her weight and looks.

The tabloids exaggerated her weight, and Alley expressed how she felt about that. In 2005, she appeared on the Television Critics Association Panel for her Showtime comedy, Fat Actress, where she opened up on how she felt about the tabloid report and her journey through weight loss.

Alley Called The Reports ‘Disconcerting’

It was not that Alley was unaware of her weight; she just hated how the media made it such a topic and exaggerated her appearance. As if that was not enough, Alley could not avoid these reports despite rarely visiting the grocery shop or supermarket, where these tabloids are mostly seen; they still somehow got to her.

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However, the Cheers actress got back at the tabloids with her show, Fat Actress. “It was disconcerting. I don’t go to the grocery store very much, but it was disconcerting. I can’t deny that,” Alley said. “And then when we announced this show, it was so liberating. It was like, bring it on. Bring it on.”

The ‘Fat Actress’ Show

“‘…Well, I either hit this head-on or I become the effect of this.’ And I just went, ‘I don’t want to be the effect of this anymore. I can play this game better than they can,'” Alley recalled her thoughts that birthed Fat Actress.

She used her humorous nature to take back her narrative from the media about her weight, noting that it is one thing for her to acknowledge the need for better health choices and outlets making news out of her weight.

“I consider me getting fat sort of like an error,” Alley said. “Like an error in judgment, do you know? Because we can all enjoy food and have a lot of food and not look like this. So I considered it an error, but I think when you see it publicly right in front of your face all the time, and maliciously, come on. The intent is malicious. It’s not like, ‘Hey, here’s fat Kirstie Alley. We think this will be very helpful for her and her career and her family, and we think it’s great for her.'”