Irish musician CMAT posted a detailed statement on Instagram this week responding to body-shaming comments she received after performing at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Sunderland, England on May 24.
Writing on May 28, the musician born Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson said she felt compelled to speak after seeing abuse directed at her weight and appearance spread online following the performance. "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," she wrote. "I would love to stop but I cannot because it keeps happening, at an accelerating and worsening pace as I become more famous."
She pushed back against the idea that she is making a statement by looking the way she does. "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."
According to Billboard, CMAT shared screenshots from a Substack essay by Front Row Feels that she said captured much of her distress. The essay drew connections between the online treatment of CMAT and similar abuse faced by Ariana Grande, Lizzo, Bebe Rexha and Cynthia Erivo. "The audience does not actually want a real, evolving human being. It wants a static product, visually consistent, permanently consumable and emotionally accessible on demand," the essay states.
This is not the first time CMAT has dealt with this at the BBC's flagship festival. In 2024, the broadcaster closed comments on a performance clip of CMAT from that year's Big Weekend in Luton after similar abuse appeared.
She said she has deleted much of her access to social media as a result of the ongoing harassment. Her statement ended on a note that held both gratitude and frustration. "With all that being said, 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."
Several fellow artists showed support in the comments. Singer Olivia Dean, who performed immediately after CMAT at the event, responded on the post. Brandi Carlile commented: "Been a while since I was in a bar fight but I'd have one over CMAT."
CMAT's third album, Euro-Country, which includes the track "Take A Sexy Picture of Me" addressing body image, won best album at the Ivor Novello Awards on May 21.
