Brandy has finally responded to the online comments about her weight with a heartfelt message shared on Instagram.
Last week, the Grammy-winning R&B star was celebrated during a hometown event in McComb, Mississippi. However, after the festivities, much of the online conversation shifted away from the honor and toward Brandy’s appearance, with some social media users claiming she looked noticeably slimmer.
On Saturday (July 11), the 47-year-old singer addressed the discussion through an Instagram post featuring a stunning carousel of photos.
“Perhaps we’ve been looking for it in all the wrong places. In youth. In perfection. In approval. In bodies that never change and faces that never age,” the vocalist wrote. “But life was never meant to leave us untouched. It shapes us. It humbles us. It refines us. Every season leaves its signature upon us.”
Brandy went on to say that she has “learned that it takes only a moment to form an opinion about someone’s appearance, and a lifetime to understand what they’ve lived through.”
“So may we become gentler with one another. Not because everyone is fragile, but because everyone is carrying a story we cannot see,” she wrote. “Our words have weight. Our judgments have weight. Our kindness does too.”
The singer ended her message by encouraging people to stop criticizing others’ bodies and to remember that every person is “someone’s child,” “someone’s dream,” “someone’s life” and “a soul.”
“And souls have always been more beautiful than surfaces,” she added.
In her memoir, Phases, published on March 31, Brandy opened up about her battle with bulimia during her teenage years while navigating fame and an abusive relationship.
“I believed I was purging more than food. I was expelling the weight of disappointment,” she wrote, according to People, adding, “washing away the residue of other people’s expectations, cleansing myself of perceived failure … For a few blessed seconds after, I felt lighter. Thinner. Prettier. Worthy. The sensation never lasted, but I chased it like an addict.”
