Kelly Osbourne, 40, shared her thoughts on living in a “fat-phobic world” while speaking at a health summit in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 10
The reality star — who underwent gastric sleeve surgery — said she has received “more s— for being fat than I did for anything else”
She continued, “I have been a drug addict, an alcoholic” and yet, “You’ll never read an article about me that hasn’t got a comment about my weight”
Kelly Osbourne is getting real about the body shaming she’s experienced over the years.
While speaking on a panel at the Inaugural Beacher Vitality Happy & Healthy Summit at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 10, the reality star shared that she has been judged more harshly for her weight than for anything else in life.
“We live in a fat-phobic world,” Osbourne, 40, told the summit attendees. “I have been a drug addict, an alcoholic … I’ve been a complete mess, disrespectful to people, horrible — but I got more s— for being fat than I did for anything else. It’s insane.”
“You’ll never read an article about me that hasn’t got a comment about my weight,” she continued, while also sharing that she had become accustomed to constant backhanded comments about her physical appearance when she was heavier.
“People [would] say, ‘You’re so pretty. Why don’t you just lose a little bit of weight, and then you’ll be the total package,’ “ she recalled.
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Kelly Osbourne in 2015
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The Dancing with the Stars alum said that while she previously “tried everything” to lose weight, she ultimately didn’t begin to gain traction on her health journey until she was in the right mental and emotional space.
“I tried probably everything that there is out there, whether it be surgery, medication, diet and exercise,” she explained. “I got my mind where I needed it to be, and everything started to fall into place.”
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“It’s not just as simple as change your diet and move,” she said at another point during the panel. “You have to change your brain. You have to come to peace and acceptance about where you are in your life before you can start.”
Osbourne also said that her weight loss journey was “not easy,” noting that it “came in stages.”
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Kelly Osbourne at the Beacher Vitality Happy & Healthy Summit in L.A. on May 10, 2025
Osbourne has previously opened up about getting gastric sleeve surgery, calling it “the best thing I have ever done” while appearing on the Hollywood Raw podcast in 2020.
During the episode, the former Fashion Police star explained that while the surgery helped point her in “the right direction,” it was by no means an overnight solution.
“The kind of surgery I had … if you don’t work out and you don’t eat right, you gain weight. All it does is move you in the right direction. So, anyone who’s thinking of doing something like this, really think about that,” she said.
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Kelly Osbourne attends a Live Nation event at The Peppermint Club in L.A. on Nov. 20, 2024
“I had to do a year of stand-alone therapy to prepare myself for the surgery before I even had it,” she continued. “What people don’t realize is, it cuts out this hormone that if you have addiction issues, it stops your craving and it makes you not emotionally eat, which is a huge problem for me.”
“It doesn’t solve all your problems. It’s not a quick fix,” she reiterated.
While speaking to PEOPLE exclusively at the Clarins’ Beauty Icons event in L.A. on March 21, Osbourne shared that a series of family health scares over the past several years taught her to take things in stride and focus on what really matters.
“There’s health scare after health scare, and you have to sit there and you have to realize what is real, what is not, what is important, what is healthy, and what makes you feel the best version of yourself.” she said.
“And that’s what I work toward, is always trying to just be the best version of me,” she added.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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