TikTok users have come to the defense of a woman who was fat-shamed online.
The drama started when TikTok influencer Mary Fran (@itsmaryfran) made a lighthearted video about being overweight. In it, she exudes body confidence and self-love as she raises her arms and says, “Just a reminder that I am very fat and very sexy.”
Another TikToker, Nami (@nami_m0mmy), who has since turned her account private, stitched a video of herself reacting negatively to Frans’s post.
@lovelyy_esmyy2.0 #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo Leave happy people alone. If you really cared you would be giving her “pointers” she didn’t ask for since you’re a fitness person. 🙄 #meangirls #mindyourbusiness #maryfran #mom #leavehappypeoplealone #whydoyoucare ♬ original sound – No Niche Babe 🖤
Many viewers slammed Nami for fat-shaming Fran. One commenter wrote “This is ugly behavior. Having confidence isn’t glorifying anything, ppl are allowed to love themselves.”
In a now-deleted video, Nami responded, “You can be happy, you can be confident, great. But what we’re not going to do is glorify unhealthy behavior.”
In another video, Nami pushed back on accusations of cyberbullying. She asked her followers, “How the fuck do you get cyberbullied? Turn off your phone. There’s literally a block button for a reason.”
Since Nami’s original video led some people to go to Fran’s page and attack her weight and even issue her death threats, Fran posted an emotional response.
“I don’t understand how somebody could have so much hatred and anger for somebody they’ve never met,” she says through her tears in the video that has amassed over 2.6 million views by Wednesday afternoon.
@itsmaryfran ♬ original sound – Mary Fran
Several creators rushed to Mary Fran’s defense, including Soogia (@soogia1), who has earned a reputation on TikTok for giving her take on viral videos. (The Daily Dot reached out to Fran and Soogia.)
@soogia1 @Mary Fran Your love for yourself and others is so much more than skin deep. Don’t let the @Mom’s of the world change that. #dobetter #loveyourself #beautyisonlyskindeep #uglyistothebone #greenscreenvideo #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Soogia (soo-jee-yah)
In her video, which had received over 8 million views by Wednesday afternoon, she explained why she thinks Nami felt the need to make a fat-shaming video about Fran.
“I think in her case, it’s pretty simple to understand how and why she is the way that she is,” Soogia begins.
“See, Nami here, I don’t know how recently, had what she would consider a glow-up,” she continues, as she shows an old picture of Nami with dark hair and glasses.
“She changed her hair, she learned how to wear her makeup, and she worked on her body and got really fit. And she did all of the things that she thought she had to do to feel better about herself,” she explains.
But Soogia argued that Nami was missing a crucial piece to the self-love puzzle: that true beauty has to come from the inside.
“She couldn’t understand like, ‘Why do I look so good on the outside and still feel so fucking bad on the inside?’” Soogia says.
She then addressed Fran. “So when [Nami] looks at somebody like you and she sees somebody who is just so joyful and filled with so much light and love for herself and everyone around her, she doesn’t get it,” Soogia says.
“She doesn’t understand how you can have it and she doesn’t,” she continues. “And what she doesn’t understand is that your love for yourself comes from the inside out, not from the outside in.”
People in the comments agreed with Soogia’s observations.
“Mary Fran is a joy. And you, Ms. Soogia NEVER FUCKING MISS – you’re incredible, and I love your takes on things,” a woman wrote.
“Happy people don’t hurt people, hurt people hurt people,” another shared.
Viewers said that Nami’s video says more about her than it does Fran. “This is what psychologist mean when they say how we treat others is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves,” someone wrote.
Nami has since posted and then removed a video sharing an apology she wrote to Fran.
“As a woman I shouldn’t not be attacking and bringing down another woman,” the apology said.
