Padma Lakshmi has slammed trolls who have shamed and criticized her for showing off her body on social media.
On Wednesday night (April 26), the 52-year-old author and television personality stunned on the red carpet at the Time 100 Gala and spoke about the comments she received about her body.
She told Page Six: "I have boobs, I have nipples! So does every woman and man on the planet. I think we should just be a little more grown-up about it."
The Indian-American culinary macher stated that people who leave hateful remarks need to be "a little more grown-up about it" and "also just accept that a woman’s body is beautiful and… not totally perfect and stuff and filtered and everything".
Lakshmi regularly posts recipe videos for her 1.3 million followers on Instagram and is often seen donning dresses or sports bras. She also shares risque pictures of herself, such as one of her eating pasta and sipping wine nude in a bathtub, and another of her posing topless and eating pizza.
Due to this, she is bombarded with negative feedback from online users. The Taste the Nation host once addressed those haters in the caption of a video of her making lasagna.
She wrote: "(I got some comments last time that it was immoral for me to not wear a bra in my own kitchen during the quarantine. So those people should be happy to note that I’m wearing two today) But seriously, let’s not police women’s bodies in 2020 ok?"
In addition to this, Lakshmi blasted a commenter who took offense when she joked around with her 13-year-old daughter, Krishna, about her own breasts.
"As a mom of 4 daughters, there’s a time and a place, and when it starts making our daughters uncomfortable because we are being objectified, time to take notice," one social media user penned under her clip.
The Tomatoes for Neela author clapped back, writing: "First if [sic] all it’s a JOKE. And my daughter isn’t uncomfortable with me or my boobs or my posts, nor does she read these comments unless I show her because she isn’t on social media. It’s really not that serious folks."
Despite the constant body-shaming critiques, Lakshmi declared at the Time 100 Gala that she's very happy with her life and body.
"Like, I feel more comfortable with my body in my 50s than I did in my 20s," she told the outlet. "Even though I probably looked better in my 20s, but I feel better in my 50s."
"And I’m here to tell you that you can have a beautiful relationship with your body and sensuality and be a mother and be a lover and be a friend and have a multi-dimensional complex human being. You can have that and be that," Lakshmi concluded.
Well said!