Kim and Khloe Kardashian respond to Jameela Jamil's criticism of their weight loss ads

The actress has described the famous sisters as 'recycling hatred' and 'double agents for the patriarchy' in the past

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Gregory Pace/REX/Shutterstock (8821729ld)
Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian
NBCUniversal Upfront Presentation, Arrivals, New York, USA - 15 May 2017
Powered by automated translation

It's difficult to determine what Jameela Jamil is more famous for in 2019: as being one of the stars in Netflix series The Good Place, or for being an out-spoken, online champion of the underdog, who calls out body shamers and celebrities who promote unhealthy diets.

Two people that have regularly been targeted by the British actress are Kim and Khloe Kardashian, who both frequently post #ads to Instagram promoting appetite suppressants and meal replacement shakes.

In a Channel 4 interview last year Jamil described the sisters as "double agents for the patriarchy".

Actress Jameela Jamil arrives at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on March 28, 2019. / AFP / LISA O'CONNOR
Jameela Jamil says she too has been approached to promote weight loss products on Instagram, but she says 'Thank you, next' to the offers. AFP 

When asked by Krishnan Guru-Murthy to explain what she meant, she said: "The double agent for the patriarchy is basically a woman who, perhaps unknowingly, is still putting the patriarchal narrative out into the world. Is still benefitting off of, profiting off, and selling a patriarchal narrative to other women."

"You're selling us an ideal, a body shape, a problem with our wrinkles, a problem with aging, a problem with gravity, a problem with any kind of body fat," she adds. "You're selling us self-consciousness. The same poison that made you clearly develop some sort of body dysmorphia or facial dysmorphia, you are now pouring back into the world. You're, like, recycling hatred."

So, when she commented on a sponsored post of Khloe Kardashian's from one week ago, promoting Flat Tummy Co, Jamil jumped, writing: "If you're too irresponsible to: a) own up to the fact that you have a personal trainer, nutritionist, probable chef, and a surgeon to achieve your aesthetic, rather than this laxative product... And b) tell them the side effects of this NON-FDA approved product, that most doctors are saying aren't healthy... then I guess I have to."

Adding: "It's incredibly awful that this industry bullied you until you became this fixated on your appearance. That's the media's fault. But now please don't put that back into the world, and hurt other girls, the way you have been hurt. You're a smart woman. be smarter than this."

Kardashian's post has since been deleted, but it was picked up by Instagram account Comments By Celebs: 

Now, Khloe Kardashian has responded to Jameela Jamil

It has been more than a week since Jamil's last comment, but Kardashian has commented on the accusations in an interview with The New York Times, and she is not at all repentant.

“I don’t live in that negative energy space. Ninety per cent of people will be really excited about the family and the journey and who we are,” Khloe Kardashian said when asked about Jamil's comment.

Kardashian also added that she has never had a chef and implies that the posting of her personal training workouts is done out of generosity, "well aware that not everyone can afford such a luxury".

“Well, listen, I am showing you what to do, silly person, 15 repetitions, three times, here’s the move …” she says in the interview – it is not clear if the "silly person" in question is Jameela Jamil or her Snapchat followers.

Kim Kardashian also stood up for herself 

Running through the family's long list of endorsements, Kim Kardashian was able to defend each of them in The New York Times interview, listing the many ways she and her family members have used the products they promote.

On teeth whitening, she said: “I don’t have veneers. People really think that!” Waist trainers: “I got them for my friends after they had babies!” Discussing younger sister Kendall Jenner’s Proactiv skincare deal, which was mocked when Kris Jenner called it a “brave and vulnerable” move: “She never thought she’d ever be able to be a model because of her acne."

Kardashian also added that a sense of family motivates her reason to accept this kind of promotional work: “If there is work that is really easy that doesn’t take away from our kids, that’s like a huge priority, if someone was faced with the same job opportunities, I think they would maybe consider. You’re going to get backlash for almost everything so as long as you like it or believe in it or it’s worth it financially, whatever your decision may be, as long as you’re okay with that.”

Jameela Jamil hasn't accepted the sisters' defense of their #ads 

In a post that features the odd-expletive, so we won't embed here, Jamil clapped back at the famous sisters once again.

“The Kardashians need to check their moral compasses, because they appear to be broken," she wrote in an Instagram caption. Adding a thumb pointing down emoji.

The Instagram post is a screen grab that links to a Cosmopolitan article that breaks the feud down, and reads: "Essentially, '**** the young, impressionable people, or those struggling with eating disorders, we want the money.' I have been given these same opportunities to flog this stuff, and I don't do it, so they don't have to. Thank you, next. "She spoke about the monetary motivation in her interview with Guru-Murthy last year.

The Kardashians need to check their moral compasses, because they appear to be broken

"How much money do you need?" she asked of the sisters. "How much money do any of these huge influencers who are worth millions or billions sometimes... why are they still promoting appetite suppressant lollipops to young girls... it is so upsetting, it feels like such a betrayal against women and I will not be a part of it and I will not stop calling it out when I see it."

Jamil has 1.6 million followers, in comparison to Kim and Khloe Kardashian's respective 133m and 90.5m. The actress launched online body-positivity movement, I Weigh, last year.

It now has an Instagram following of over 560,000.