Sharon Osbourne Fuels Body Image Debate With Cringey Take On Adele’s Weight Loss

Days after Adele surprised fans with a snapshot of her newly svelte figure, Sharon Osbourne is weighing in. 

Appearing on “The Talk” Tuesday, Osbourne said Adele looks “absolutely fantastic,” and that she “totally understands” the singer-songwriter’s decision to slim down.

“It was her time to lose weight, that’s all, in her journey, in her life,” she said. “I’m happy for her, and everyone should be happy for her, because it was her choice. She didn’t do it for anybody else but herself, and so everybody should be happy for her.”

To mark her 32nd birthday on May 6, Adele posted an Instagram photo of herself posed beside a massive floral arrangement while expressing her thanks to those on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus. 

The image sparked debate among the 15-time Grammy winner’s fans, with many offering divided opinions on her apparent weight loss. 

Osbourne, who is married to Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy Osbourne, recalled her own experiences with weight loss on “The Talk” Tuesday. In 1999, she shed a reported 125 pounds after undergoing gastric band surgery. Her attempt to offer an anecdote, however, seemed to reinforce existing stereotypes.

“When really big women say they’re really happy in their body, I don’t believe them,” she said. “Because I was really, really big and I wasn’t happy. Sure, on the surface, ‘Ha, ha,’ but at night, in bed alone, I was very unhappy.”

Not surprisingly, the remarks drew a frosty response on social media. 

“If somebody makes a personal choice to alter their appearance in some way to realize their own perception of beauty for themselves, that is nothing but laudable,” one person wrote. “But stereotyping plus-size women as perpetually unhappy in their bodies is wrong and harmful.”

Added another, “Just because YOU weren’t happy in your bigger body doesn’t mean other women can’t be.” 

Obsourne, of course, is no stranger to controversy. In 2018, she announced she would not be returning to the U.K. version of “The X Factor,” after deeming the show’s young contestants “little shits” who “all suck” in an interview with Howard Stern. The following year, she had to backpedal after she suggested Kim Kardashian was a “ho” in an interview with The Telegraph.