James Corden has blasted a fellow US chat show host who called for fat-shaming to “make a comeback”.
Speaking on his Real Talk programme, Bill Maher criticised efforts to de-stigmatise being overweight and said “we have gone to this weird place where fat is good”.
The prominent US TV personality said being fat “isn’t a birth defect, no-one comes out of the womb needing two seats on the airplane”.
“Fat-shaming doesn’t need to end, it needs to make a comeback”, he said.
“Some amount of shame is good”.
But during the opening monologue on The Late Late Show With James Corden, the Gavin And Stacey star said Maher was encouraging bullying.
James, who said he has struggled with his weight all his life, argued fat-shaming “hasn’t gone anywhere” and that “we are reminded of it all the time”.
Discussing his own efforts to keep the pounds off, James said “we’re not all as lucky as Bill Maher, we don”t all have a sense of superiority that burns 35,000 calories a day”.
The 41-year-old added: “It’s proven that fat-shaming only does one thing – it makes people feel ashamed. And shame leads to depression, anxiety and self-destructive behaviour. Self-destructive behaviour like over-eating.
“Fat-shaming is just bullying and bullying only makes the problem worse.”
His response went down well with many people on Twitter…
James was also supported by British actress Jameel Jamil, who has been open about her own struggles with her weight.
She said his monologue was “brilliant”, adding: “I recommend it to you all.
“I whole heartedly agree with everything he is saying here and I hope @billmaher takes a second to listen, because this is so important.”
Maher is yet to publicly respond.