“There are fat people” — Jacques Houdek speaks out against body shaming and weight stigma

He placed thirteenth in the grand final of Eurovision 2017, portraying two characters — a leather-jacket-wearing pop singer and a tuxedoed opera star.

And while Jacques Houdek made singing “My Friend” look easy, the celebrated singer has faced plenty of other challenges during his storied career in entertainment.

Now, in a passionate Facebook post, the 39-year-old has discussed the indignity of being fat-shamed  — something he says he understands as the most famous person of his size in the region.

“I think it’s about time we had a serious talk about fat people and the attitude of society towards them. I’m going to talk about this issue, which seems louder and louder. I will speak for myself but also in the name of all my fat friends, known and unknown. I think I have every right to do something like this  — to be a voice for all of us who have been shamed for “daring” to become fat. I believe I have to talk about it because I feel responsible, as I assume I am the most famous obese person in the region, and also as someone who has lived that life, my whole life. And as someone  who has achieved a lot in both private and business terms, despite the prognosis that due to obesity I won’t succeed. And finally, as someone who has always struggled with this disease. Yes, this disease. Obesity is a DISEASE. Remember this, right at the start, and let it hit you like a Jacques signature every time you decide to taunt someone who isn’t ‘beautiful and slender like you.’ Imagine, hahahhhha, he has a fat ass, a belly … That’s really funny.”

“All of us, who have a problem with being overweight, are condemned and humiliated to such an extent that I am completely convinced that today the biggest ‘shame’ is to be fat. We are, in fact, so stigmatised, that it has become a real direct mobbing. Apart from the classic mockery at our expense, conclusions about our health are made so easily and quickly, without anyone doing basic blood tests or examining us — they are all experts and doctors who see everything. And they don’t see, for example, a cigarette in their mouth. They don’t see those litres of alcohol they poured into themselves over the weekend. They don’t see their problems. They see obesity and with disgust claim that this person is lazy, unsuccessful, unhappy … Prejudice, in the full sense of the word. Well, I am neither lazy, nor unsuccessful, nor unhappy. And if I decided to publish the results of my extensive searches I believe I would embarrass many. If I were, thank God, healthy and maybe even had all the values ​​better than you, then what would you say? That my sugar is 5.3? That I don’t have any elevated cholesterol? Yes, that’s right. But I still have my diagnosis, and it’s called insulin resistance. I will write more about that on another occasion. For now, I will only briefly, in layman’s terms, say that it is precisely because of my genetics that I have been struggling with hernias all my life, and insulin resistance has made it an additional problem for my digestive system to enter a kind of lockdown. I gain weight terribly easily, and I lose a lot of weight. All this was certainly not helped by my pace and messy lifestyle, nomadic, eternally on the road, never in some steady rhythm. But, so that it doesn’t turn out that I’m justifying myself now, on the contrary … I take full responsibility for myself and my life. I am a fighter, I have been fighting it my whole life, I will continue to fight. And I will never give up on myself. Never.”

“But that doesn’t mean I can tolerate this way of treatment in society. I no longer have the patience for any prejudice and violence. It’s enough! It is necessary to educate all those people who have fearful prejudices about obesity. And there are … you have no idea how many. Unfortunately … You don’t know — because you’ve simply never encountered such a problem. You have good genetics, digestion … Well, let’s get started with education; lesson one says something like this; SHAME ON YOU ALL WHO LOOK AT US WITH PREJUDICE! Remember? Eh, now some of you will call and comment that we are to blame, because you are working on yourself, and we are not working on medicine …. Well, hand on heart, many of you are working hard to be slim. Truth. Well done. There is also a lot of sacrifice, exercise, proper nutrition … But the truth is — most of those who do not need to work hard on themselves, are simply — naturally slender, harmonious. They don’t exercise, eat and drink whatever and whenever they want … Clearly they don’t understand what it’s like … And that’s where the problem is born, that’s where prejudice is created.”

“The society we live in today is really hypocritical….We have an understanding of all possible social differences, because someone has accustomed us to all these differences, educated us to accept them. In reality, only some have really accepted them, and some are just pretending to. So they ‘know’ that it’s not okay to make fun of someone who is ‘different.’ We overcame that. So let’s now start to master that there are fat people too. They have always existed and always will. Let’s finally accept that. So that we can all continue to live our lives in peace more beautifully and harmoniously. Thank you.

With love,

Fat Jacques ❤️

Do you understand Jacques’ perspective? Are you still looping his Eurovision song? Let us know what you’re thinking down below.