Ava Phillippe responds to body-shamers while mom Reese Witherspoon shows support

Ava Phillippe viral tiktok about bodyshaming
avaephilippe/TikTok

By now, it should be common knowledge that there’s never any reason to comment on someone else’s body, but it seems like some people still need a solid reminder. Thankfully, Ava Phillippe is here to remind us why social media body-shaming is such “toxic behavior,” and mom Reese Witherspoon was right there in the comments cheering her on.

Phillippe recently took to TikTok to share a recent experience in which two separate commenters felt emboldened enough to call her “too fat” and “too thin”—and seriously, how is her body anyone’s business but her own?

Applying a gorgeous red lip in front of the mirror, the 24-year-old noted in the text of the video, “NBD but I just achieved a major milestone as a woman online… I saw 2 different strangers commenting on my body. The first said I should get on Oz*mpic because I’m too fat… The second accused me of starving myself because I’m too thin…”

“My weight did not change in the time period between their comments,” she added, “(& it wouldn’t be any of their business if it did!)”

She then gave the camera a well-placed eye roll, smearing the red lipstick across her cheek before walking away.

“It’s such bullsh*t,” the text overlay continued. “No one deserves to be picked apart for what they look like. You don’t always know what someone’s gone through or what they struggle with.”

Phillippe reminded fans and followers that they’re so much more than the body they inhabit and the arbitrary opinions of strangers on the internet, concluding, “No matter who you are… Your beauty exceeds such superficial measures,” signing off with a single red heart emoji.

She opened up further in the caption of her post, noting that body-shaming is never okay, regardless of a person’s gender (or any reason, really!). “Pretty is as pretty does, babes … & bodyshaming is simply toxic behavior. P.S. I put ‘woman’ because I see this type of thing happening disproportionately to young girls & women, but let me be clear; body shaming is toxic no matter who the subject is. We all deserve to feel safe & at peace in the vessel we live in.”

Plenty of followers were cheering Phillippe on, including Witherspoon, who simply wrote: “Yes to all of this!”

One commenter summed it up perfectly, writing, “I wish I would have heard this message as a young woman. I am so impressed with your wisdom and compassion.”

Her post is a great reminder that commenting on someone else’s appearance—even if it’s not meant with ill intention—can be extraordinarily hurtful, and that not every thought needs to be put onto the internet for others to see.