Jameela Jamil’s best Twitter takedowns: from Piers Morgan to detox teas

Jameela Jamil cutout on a white background

Credit: Getty

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Jameela Jamil’s best Twitter takedowns: from Piers Morgan to detox teas

By Hannah-Rose Yee

6 years ago

Her comebacks are second to none.      

A warning to anyone coming for Jameela Jamil on Twitter: you’re in her house now.

Jamil uses Twitter like nobody else in the business, taking her platform and ensuring that she uses her voice to call out misinformation and misogyny wherever she sees it. Stylist’s Woman of the Year – we named her thus at the 2019 Remarkable Women Awards – makes Twitter takedowns look like an art form.

Whether it’s taking Piers Morgan to task over his vile comments about gender fluidity or firing back at misogynists trying to police what she says on social media, Jamil isn’t afraid to call people out. Here are some of her best Twitter moments:


When she called out an app promoting a horrifying message about women's bodies

One of Jamil’s biggest platforms is her continued fight for  accurate and healthy representation of women’s bodies in the media. Which is why she has spoken out against this photoshop app that promotes outrageous body manipulation.

“Not only does this hurt us and how we see ourselves,” she tweeted, “it also affects how men see us. They cannot help but become hypernormalised to these images and their brains naturally become accustomed to this aesthetic. Which in turn can genuinely impact their attraction to us. Just STOP.” 


When she called Piers Morgan “England’s biggest shit stain”

To celebrate the first anniversary of her body positivity platform I Weigh, Jamil sat down with her friend Sam Smith to talk about body image and identity. The conversation ultimately touched on Smith’s own beliefs that he is gender non binary, something that Morgan just can’t wrap his head around, saying as much on Good Morning Britain.

Jamil wasn’t here for it. She called Morgan “England’s biggest shit stain” and a “giant pile of wank” whose comments are indicative of society’s pervasive toxic masculinity. “He thinks ‘honey’ can only be used about females,” Jamil added in another tweet. “How do we send this thing back in a time machine to the era in which it belongs…?” 


When she pointed out everything wrong with a body-shaming Avon ad

Jamil is an outspoken critic of bodyshaming in the media and the insidious ways this messaging shapes a woman’s relationship with her self.

You can see this in the way she pointed out everything that was wrong with this damaging Avon advertisement, which told women that cellulite is about the worst thing that could happen to them. “To make us fear them and try to ‘fix’ them is to literally set us up for failure,” Jamil wrote. 

“Shame on Avon and any publication that allows this sort of abusive advertising,” she added. “My timeline is full of women saying adverts like these are why they are afraid to be naked in front of lovers or to wear a swimsuit. You are being robbed of your money and self esteem.”

Avon late responded, issuing an apology stating that the images was “intended to be lighthearted and fun but we realise we missed the mark” and pulled the advertisement from circulation. Such is Jamil’s power.


When she responded to critics who called her a bad advocate for body positivity

Jamil’s I Weigh platform has not been without its critics. Some questioned the perceived lack of diversity on the platform, and also the fact that Jamil – a slim and conventionally attractive woman – was spearheading this movement.

Jamil addressed this criticism on Twitter in a nuanced way. “I’m just using the platform I am lucky to have and the privilege I am afforded due to my job and my looks being deemed societally ‘acceptable’ to get the conversation to the people who can actually change the laws and change how we treat people,” Jamil wrote. “I take it as my duty to use that privilege to push things forward for ALL of us. This is not me trying to steal your movement, it’s me trying to kick the gates open for it.” 


When she begged famous women to stop talking about their “weight loss journeys”

‘Weight loss journeys’ have become a pervasive part of social media, and Jamil isn’t here for them. Especially when they come from her celebrity peers, who she believes should be setting a better example for women by dismantling diet culture.

“If you have internalised the senseless shame laid upon women for daring to not be a size zero, I understand and I’m so sorry, but don’t push that onto the women who look up to you,” Jamil wrote.


When she said she hopes celebrities who promote detox teas “shit their pants in public”

On any given day you’ll find Jamil on Twitter waging a one-woman war against detox teas. The laxative drinks, in all their various iterations, are another part of diet culture that Jamil can’t stand.

“If you want to ‘curb your appetite’ eat some damn green vegetables or have some nutritious natural vegetable soup. Don’t drink these ‘detox’ teas. You need fibre! Not something that honestly just makes you have diarrhoea the day you take it and constipates you in the long run…”

Jamil hasn’t just called out Cardi B. She’s also targeted Kim and Khloe Kardashian, both women who have advertised detox teas to their followers. 


When she called out the guy trying to police her social media presence

Someone foolishly tried to censor Jamil, telling her to “stop with this gym feed now and actually try to uplift people in a different way. There are different ways to uplift you know gym embarrassment is not the only thing… I think it’s time u get a new topic hun.”

Her response was epic: “My page is not here to entertain you. It’s for me to say whatever I feel like saying. Unfollow me and off you fuck.” 


When she annihilated a bodyshaming magazine

Lea Michele, Mariah Carey and Rebel Wilson were just some of the celebrities who featured in a shamefully bodyshaming magazine spread. The captions used to describe these stars – like “beached whale” – were awful. Jamil found a copy of the magazine and voiced her disgust on Twitter. 

“Which fucking fuck wrote this article?” Jamil wrote. “SHOW YOURSELF. Put your shit covered hand up in the air and show us your weasel face. We need to respect women more than this. This is crazy. This is why I started the I Weigh Instagram account. Because of THIS trash.”


Never stop telling it like it is, Jameela. 


Image: Getty

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