The moment someone takes a before-and-after picture of you, posts it without any context, and asks the internet to comment is one type of cruelty that only affects women in public life. Bebe Rexha experienced that at the 2026 American Music Awards. With the caption, “Be honest… what’s your first thought?” a user on X shared a side-by-side photo of the singer that showed how much she had changed over the years.
To put it simply, Rexha’s response was flawless. “My idea is that my new album, Dirty Blonde, will be available on June 12th. Preorders are currently being accepted. No rage, no long justification. Just a reroute. It’s the type of response that appears natural but most likely wasn’t.
It wasn’t the first time. Rexha had already experienced a similar situation back in 2023. In contrast to most celebrity complaints, her screenshot of a TikTok search bar that automatically completed to “Bebe Rexha weight” went viral. It had a raw quality to it. “Seeing that search bar is so upsetting,” she wrote. “It’s true, so I’m not angry. I did put on some weight. But it’s just awful.” It should be more common for a pop star to be that honest.
The fact that Rexha’s weight gain has a known medical cause sets her case apart. She was identified as having polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, a hormonal disorder that, among other things, affects the body’s ability to process insulin. For many women, this leads to sudden, fast weight gain that is difficult to treat with diet or exercise. Rexha claimed to have put on about thirty pounds—possibly more—in a brief period of time. That trajectory is common and frequently upsetting for women with PCOS. The world reacts as if it’s a character flaw when the body does something you didn’t ask it to do.
It’s worth taking a moment to consider that. Not only were the remarks Rexha received offensive, but they also highlighted a larger issue regarding the continued use of thinness as a moral signal on the internet, especially for women. Over the past few years, there has been a subtle but noticeable cultural shift: a renewed obsession with being visibly slim has replaced the body positivity wave that peaked in the late 2010s, at least in some online communities. Once again, diet content is ubiquitous. The criticism of celebrity bodies has become more acute. Bebe Rexha was unintentionally caught in that crossfire during a visible moment.
The particular tiredness in Rexha’s public reactions is more difficult to describe but unavoidable. She hasn’t acted calmly about it. She has made it clear that she is “sick of people talking about it.” She has noted that people’s bodies are impacted by drugs, illnesses, and everyday life changes in ways unrelated to laziness or decisions. It’s the kind of statement that ought to be clear, but it seems that someone who is experiencing it still needs to make it often in public.
The PCOS-related Reddit communities have taken notice. Many users have shown support by acknowledging in Rexha’s story their own experiences of gaining weight for no apparent reason and then encountering remarks that exacerbated a difficult circumstance, sometimes from family members and other times from strangers. Some others have shown less empathy. It’s telling in and of itself that the argument never quite settles.
Rexha seems to have made the decision to stop softening this for the general public at some point. The AMAs’ response, which went straight to an album announcement, felt more like clarity than deception. She is a professional musician with a musical voice. It’s not about her body. Naturally, whether or not that message is received is a completely different matter.
