Celebrities That Are Leading the Body-Positive Movement

As these Hollywood celebrities show in their words, actions and online posts, the body-positivity movement has officially entered the mainstream. Well-known activists have used social media as a tool to spread more messages of self-love to their fans.

Mindy Kaling made a splash when she posted a series of photos of herself wearing different two-piece bathing suits in July 2019. In the caption, she reminded people that every body is a bikini body.

“IDK who needs to hear this but… 🗣 WEAR A BIKINI IF YOU WANT TO WEAR A BIKINI. You don’t have to be a size 0. Swipe for my storytime and have a great summer ❤️,” wrote the Office alum.

Demi Lovato has also been honest with fans about their past struggles with eating disorders and body image. The “Sorry Not Sorry” singer, who came out as non-binary in 2021, previously opened up about how they learned to love themselves.

“I’ve been working on myself for the past year, more so than I’ve ever worked on myself,” Lovato said on The Ellen Degeneres Show in January 2018. “I’ve really surrendered to the process of just learning to love yourself, and I feel like it shows through my pictures. I post more bathing suit pictures online. I want to show my fans that it’s possible that they can get to that self-love too.”

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Meanwhile, Jameela Jamil has used her voice to speak up about body-neutrality and body-positivity. The I Weight movement founder frequently calls out celebrities who share sponsored posts for questionable diet products on social media.

“Careful on social media. A lot of celebs and influencers acting like they know what they’re talking about when it comes to diet and health, and that they’re your friend… (friends don’t sell you laxatives…),” she wrote in an Instagram post in December 2018.

The actress has also continued to post reminders to her followers that they are perfect the way they are.

“Even the bits you were told were “wrong.” They aren’t wrong, they’re f–king normal,” the Good Place alum captioned a photo of herself via Instagram in April 2019. “They’re human. Thank your body today. It’s your friend. Whether or not fashion and film told you it is… 💁🏽‍♀️ These are my babe-bumps.”

Scroll down to find out what other actors, athletes and stars are serving up some major motivation to stop stressing and start loving yourself:

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Bryce Dallas Howard

“In my household, dieting is a dirty word,” Howard exclusively told Us in December 2022. “Like, everyone knows that dieting and any kind of [negative] critiques of oneself that you wouldn’t give to another [aren’t OK].”

The Jurassic World star, who shares son Theodore, 15, and daughter Beatrice, 10, with husband Seth Gabel, explained that her family is focused on body positivity. “I’m just not gonna tolerate my kids treating themselves disrespectfully,” she said. “Because I wouldn’t tolerate my kids treating anyone else disrespectfully. … We do things that are supportive of our health and we don’t try to change things that cannot be changed [or] that is actually in contradiction with our health.”

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Lili Reinhart

“Reminder to myself, and to all—you don’t need a flat or perfectly toned stomach to wear a crop top,” the Riverdale actress tweeted in March 2022. “These ‘summer body’ trends are toxic. Your body is ready for summer no matter what it looks like. Don’t let it stop you from enjoying anything.”

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Lauren Ash

“In 2022, I commit to dressing like the rock star I am. ,” the Superstore alum captioned a mirror selfie in a bralette and jeans on New Year’s Eve 2021, reflecting on her wellness journey. “People keep asking me what’s my secret, what am I doing different? What’s the ‘plan’ I’m following? And to be clear, I don’t owe anyone ANY explanation about my body, ever. Period. … I wish all of you could see the beauty in yourselves that exists. And understand that beauty is in no way determined by your size. Value is not determined by size.” Ash continued: “2021 was a year where I experienced great personal loss. In so many ways. Consequently, I did make some changes that have affected my appearance. They are: eliminating stress from my life at all costs [and] prioritizing my own needs and wants. End of list. … LIVE!!! Live now! Life is short! Eat the Brie! Wear the pleather bra you never thought you would! Tomorrow is not promised! And please remember, beauty exists everywhere within you because you are made of MAGIC! .”

The Superstore alum opened up about body acceptance again while celebrating her birthday in February 2022.

“We live in a society where birthday cards poke fun at people getting older. Where 30 is considered ‘old’ and women who celebrate their bodies are ‘looking for attention’ or ‘trying to act younger than they should,’” Ash captioned an Instagram post at the time. “Make no mistake, I celebrate my body today (and all days) because I am grateful it is healthy and strong and I refuse to criticize it like I did for so long. … I am so GRATEFUL I get to be here to celebrate another year living in this gorgeous body that never deserved the negativity I put upon it for so long.”

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Valerie Bertinelli

“I’m standing out in the rain because I’m doing my best to distract my mind from spiraling to a place of self-loathing because I saw a picture of myself today that made me want to do that,” the Hot in Cleveland alum explained in an emotional Instagram video in December 2021. “I am not where I want to be right now, body-wise. I don’t know if I ever will be, but when I see it right in front of me, it really does send me down that path, and I am doing my best to be positive and more full of joy and hopefully, my body will follow along. I’m not there yet.”

She concluded her message: “We can all give ourselves permission to feel joy, be intentional about it, and remember to be grateful. I am grateful, even through all the mess [because] there’s still good in all the mess.”

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Lena Dunham

As the Girls alum reflected on her body, she admitted that she had a different view of body positivity.

“I’ve never called myself ‘body positive’ because my relationship with my curves and scars isn’t overtly political — it’s wildly personal,” she wrote via Instagram in March 2020. “And it isn’t always positive. I take enormous comfort in the body positivity movement, but I think of myself as something more like ‘body tolerant.’”

One year later, the writer hit back at critics who tried to insult her appearance years after her hit HBO show came to an end.

“But one narrative I take issue with, largely because it’s a story I don’t want other women, other people, to get lodged in their heads is that I should somehow be ashamed because my body has changed since I was last on television,” Dunham wrote via Instagram in October 2021. “Firstly ‘did Lena eat the cast of Girls’ just isn’t a very good joke — I could punch that up for the Tweeter. Secondly, it’s ironic to have my body compared to a body that was also the subject of public scorn — an echo chamber of body shaming.”

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Mindy Kaling

“I feel like in conversations about fitness and exercise, if you’re going to be talking about someone who’s healthy and fit, you have to be a hard body with, like, a six-pack,” the writer shared with Shape magazine in May 2021. “But that’s not really how it works, and I have learned to embrace [my body] in the past six months [since having a baby].”

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Demi Lovato

“We hear the term body positivity all the time. To be honest, I don’t always feel positive about my body. Sometimes I do not like what I see. I don’t sit there and dwell on it. I also don’t lie to myself,” Lovato told Teen Vogue in November 2019.

The performer explained that they didn’t always have the confidence to believe in positive affirmations such as “you’re beautifully and wonderfully made.”

“I don’t have to lie to myself and tell myself I have an amazing body. All I have to say is ‘I’m healthy.’ In that statement, I express gratitude,” they noted. “I am grateful for my strength and things I can do with my body. I am saying I’m healthy and I accept the way my body is today without changing anything.”

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Chris Pratt

“So many people have said I look too thin in my recent episodes of #WHATSMYSNACK Some have gone as far as to say I look “skeletal” Well, just because I am a male doesn’t mean I’m impervious to your whispers. Body shaming hurts,” the Marvel star wrote via Instagram in March 2018.

He concluded: “So to prove my security in the way I look I’m posting a current selfie of me at what I consider a very healthy weight. 500lbs. Zero percent body fat. Totally JK guys. This is a T Rex skull. Nailed you so bad. Omg.”

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Jennifer Lopez

Lopez got honest about the pressures she felt to look a certain way according to what others dictated.

“They’d say, ‘You should lose a few pounds,’ or ‘You should do this or do that,’” the Hustlers star told InStyle in May 2018. “It finally got to the point that I was like, ‘This is who I am. I’m shaped like this.’ Everybody I grew up with looked like that, and they were all beautiful to me. I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I still don’t!”

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Serena Williams

“I didn’t see people on TV that looked like me, who were thick. There wasn’t positive body image. It was a different age,” the athlete detailed her relationship with her body during an interview with Vogue in October 2020.

For Williams, becoming a mother only made her become even more comfortable with herself.

“How amazing that my body has been able to give me the career that I’ve had, and I’m really thankful for it,” she added. “I only wish I had been thankful sooner. It just all comes full circle when I look at my daughter.”

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Jameela Jamil

“I do kind of miss the Nineties, where we had this burst of girls who didn’t shower and were really opinionated: Alanis Morissette and Fiona Apple and Lauryn Hill saying things that really challenged people,” Jamil told Marie Claire in September 2018. “You had all these women who were not being chosen just for their looks or for how sexy they were. We need to stop being reduced to nothing more than our looks, and appreciated for who we are again.”

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Ireland Baldwin

Embracing my cellulite, stretch marks, curves, eczema, ingrowns, pale skin, grown out roots, hairy legs, and all the other fun things that make me human ✨🫀💘