Taylor Swift Revealed Her Struggle With An Eating Disorder And Pressure To Be Thin In Her New Documentary
Taylor Swift: Miss Americana is set to debut on Netflix at the end of the month, but the documentary had an early release Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival. Among other things, Taylor revealed in the doc for the first time that she’s struggled with an eating disorder.
In the documentary, Taylor said (per E!) that constant scrutiny of her appearance led to her developing an “unhealthy” relationship with food. Taylor even said that there were times when she’d “starve” herself.
“It's not good for me to see pictures of myself every day,” she said in one scene, as you can see her being swarmed by paparazzi when she leaves her apartment. Taylor also said that seeing unflattering photos of herself made her want to go to drastic measures to lose weight.
"It's only happened a few times, and I'm not in any way proud of it," she said. "A picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big, or…someone said that I looked pregnant…and that'll just trigger me to just starve a little bit—just stop eating."
Taylor also talked about this during a new interview with Variety. "I remember how, when I was 18, that was the first time I was on the cover of a magazine," she said. "And the headline was like ‘Pregnant at 18?' And it was because I had worn something that made my lower stomach look not flat. So, I just registered that as a punishment."
Taylor said her drive to be thin was reinforced at photo shoots.
"And then I'd walk into a photo shoot and be in the dressing room and somebody who worked at a magazine would say, ‘Oh, wow, this is so amazing that you can fit into the sample sizes. Usually we have to make alterations to the dresses, but we can take them right off the runway and put them on you!'" she said. "And I looked at that as a pat on the head. You register that enough times, and you just start to accommodate everything towards praise and punishment, including your own body."
Now, Taylor shared in the documentary, her relationship with food has gotten healthier. “I thought that I was supposed to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show, or in the middle of it,” she said. “Now I realize, no, if you eat food, have energy, get stronger, you can do all these shows.”
Taylor Swift: Miss Americana debuts on Netflix on January 31.
If you or someone you know needs help, visit the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) website or contact the NEDA Information and Referral Helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
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