A passionate defense. Tara Reid hit back at critics who questioned her appearance after she posted a series of bikini photos taken by her friend Taryn Manning.
“I’ve always been thin,” the American Pie actress, 46, told Page Six on Monday, November 8. “So, these stories are kind of crazy because it’s like, there’s nothing that has changed for forever.”
Last month, the New Jersey native had to clap back at body-shamers when she shared a black-and-white photo set of herself in a tiny bathing suit. “Nothing better then your friend taking hot artsy pics of you in Palm Springs aka @tarynmanning,” the Josie and the Pussycats star captioned the pictures, which inspired unwanted commentary from some followers who claimed to be worried about her thin figure.
Shortly after her original post, Reid shared another Instagram photo from the same day, telling her followers in a caption that “the angle” made her look extra slim. “Here is another picture from yesterday to show you I am not too skinny, I have a high metabolism,” she wrote. “Anyone with a high metabolism understands it’s impossible to gain weight. All I do is eat. To everyone who wrote something nice and stuck up for me, I love you! And keep spreading that love, it is the only thing that will save this world.”
On Monday, the Sharknado star reiterated that she’s happy with the way she looks no matter what the critics say.
“This is who I am, this is what I am, this is what I’m [aspiring] to be,” she told Page Six. “I’ve gone through it for so many years that, you know, sometimes I feel bad for them because if they’re that miserable writing things at home, what are they doing?”
Manning, 43, also came to her friend’s defense in an Instagram comment, writing that “no one deserves this level of vitriol” for their body.
“It’s so dangerous and cruel,” the Orange Is the New Black alum added. “You truly have no idea. As I sit with her. She’s so strong and also very hurt. Her heart is pure gold.”
Earlier this year, Reid opened up about some of her past experiences with bullying as a young woman in the public eye. “I’m very comfortable with my body now,” she told E! News in June. “When that was all happening, you do start listening and questioning yourself, going, ‘Oh, maybe this is wrong or that.’ But you have to look in the mirror and go, ‘I’m OK with myself. I don’t care.’ You want to body-shame? Body-shame me. I’m in the place in my life where I am happy in my own skin.”