Irish singer CMAT has spoken out about the body-shaming abuse she received after her performance at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Sunderland. The 30-year-old artist, whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, took to Instagram to share her distress over the negative comments targeting her appearance.
CMAT's Instagram Statement
In a lengthy post, CMAT shared a photo of herself alongside screenshots of an essay from the Substack blog Front Row Feels. She wrote: "This isn't going to be a nice post so I decided to cushion the blow by leading with a picture where I look literally amazing." She explained that she had deleted Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter from her phone for her mental health, but the discourse still reached her. "It's been very hard to try and describe how difficult the last few days since the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend have been," she added.
CMAT continued: "It is literally so boring for me, a gorgeous genius, to keep having to yap on about how horribly I am treated because of my body. I would love to stop but I cannot because it keeps happening, at an accelerating and worsening pace as I become more famous. There is no relief from this - nobody can protect me or save me from this, and all that is demanded of me is more and more work as every environment I am placed in becomes more hostile."
Defiance and Body Image
She clarified: "I also want to point out, to some very well-meaning people, that I am not being defiant. I am not choosing to look like this or weigh this much as some kind of punk rock act of liberty. I simply have a body, one that I would of course like to change in order to fit in and avoid all of this abuse, but I have had extreme difficulty in doing so. I don't get a say in whether or not I want to be brave, I simply have to sit here and take it."
Despite the abuse, CMAT expressed gratitude for her career: "I am at the same time very very happy and grateful every day to have the job that I have. The feeling of seeing all your dreams come true after so many years of constant grinding towards them... chefs kiss. But the success is increasingly becoming tarnished by the fact that I would be allowed to enjoy it so much more if I was thin."
She signed off with "deep sadness" and a playful PS: "It's time to start throwing pints in mens' faces again! Bring it back for summer 26."
Support from Fans and Peers
BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Lauren Laverne commented: "Sometimes it feels like so little has changed in the past 20 years. It's infuriating. You are brave - not because of anything to do with how you look, but for how you use your voice. There are so many young girls watching and looking up to you. They absolutely deserve better than the idiots making s****y comments, but they are lucky to have you. Keep on keeping on. You rule."
Fans also rallied behind her. One wrote: "You are absolutely brilliant and gorgeous and I love you and your genius music and perfect live shows." Another added: "I am sorry this is happening to you. We are so lucky to have you and your music in our world."
Previous Incidents
This is not the first time CMAT has addressed body-shaming. In 2024, she claimed the BBC disabled comments on a video of her performance at Radio 1's Big Weekend due to nasty messages about her weight. At the time, she tweeted: "Yesterday the BBC had to turn comments off a video of me performing at Big Weekend because so many people were calling me fat in the comments. Today a different video of me at the BRIT awards is going viral on South American TikTok and now people are calling me fat in Spanish." She added sarcastically: "I didn't realise it was ILLEGAL to have a HUGE ASS! I am GUILTY as CHARGED it is time to lock me up and throw away THE KEY! By the way I am an award winning songwriter that has released two albums which were received to 'universal acclaim'."
CMAT performed at the festival alongside Zara Larsson, Olivia Dean, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson.
