Chrissy Teigen Was Sent Home From a Photoshoot for Being Too ‘Fat’
Chrissy Teigen is one of the most famous models. But unfortunately, like most women, she has faced body-shaming. Early in her career, Teigen landed a modeling job for Forever 21. And shockingly, she was sent home mid-shoot for being “fat.”
Chrissy Teigen was fired from 3 jobs early in her modeling career
Teigen is a former model who appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 2010. She began modeling at 18 and quickly realized how much of the job revolved around her weight.
“That was my entire career, doing weigh-ins,” Teigen told Glamour UK. “With model agencies, it was normal to get measured too, and I did it myself mainly, so when you had direct bookings without castings, [the clients] knew what they were getting.”
Teigen would weigh herself and send her measurements to her modeling agency and clients. But on a couple of occasions, her numbers were slightly off. And that resulted in her getting fired from modeling jobs.
“There were jobs I would turn up to, and they would say my measurements were off, and it was the worst feeling to be kicked off the job,” Teigen recalled.” It happened three times.”
“[One] client had booked me directly,” she added, detailing one incident. “I had half my makeup done, and they asked me to get up and take a few photos to test the light. But they sent [the pictures] to my agency, and the client fired me on the spot. I didn’t do any jobs without first going to a casting meeting for years after that.”
Chrissy Teigen was told she was ‘fat’ and sent home from a Forever 21 photoshoot
In a 2014 interview with DuJour, Teigen revealed she was once sent home while modeling for Forever 21. She noted she was in the middle of the shoot when the company’s representatives decided she looked too heavy to be in their ad.
“I actually was fired from a job … Forever 21,” Teigen said. “They booked me directly when I was much younger. I showed up on set, and they asked me if they could take a photo and they shot that photo off to my agency, who then calls me as I’m sitting in the makeup chair.
“And they say, ‘You need to leave right now.’ They just said, ‘You are fat, and you need to come get your measurements taken,'” she added. “So I hate you, Forever 21. Hate you so much, honestly — you’re the worst.”
The former model no longer stresses over her body image
Teigen left modeling to pursue a successful career as a cookbook author and TV personality. She shares three children — Luna, Miles, and Esti — with her husband, singer John Legend.
She told Glamour UK that now that she’s a mom, she no longer stresses about her body image.
“I used to weigh myself every morning, afternoon, and night,” Teigen admitted. “I knew what the scales would say after each meal. I did that for eight years and had this one weight I wanted to be at. That changed with Luna and really changed with Miles, where it took me a year to be comfortable with my new normal number.
“I do look at [my body] in the shower and think, ‘Arghhh, these kids,’” she added. “But I don’t take the aesthetics so seriously now. It’s very fulfilling not having that pressure of putting on a swimsuit and looking good for a magazine while running around a beach, which I did when I was modeling. I don’t feel like my body is where I’m going to be sh***y to myself, either. I’m already thinking enough things I am mad at myself about; I can’t add my body into it.”
