This gay influencer is getting dragged to hell and back for his fatphobic comments

At this point in time, it’s simply not ok for fashion brands to stop their sizing at XL. Especially when said brands have used claims of inclusive sizing as part of their marketing.

This is the point that plus-size influencer, TikToker, and musician Samyra made a few days ago in response to a snarky comment JC Penney’s TikTok account posted to one of her videos after she called them out for their limited sizing. It was a point well-made, and no one had any disagreements. If you’re a fashion brand that claims to be inclusive, you’d better back it up with products that actually serve the plus-size community.

But one influencer—tragically for him—decided to open his mouth and speak on an issue that he knew nothing about. The queer fitness TikToker Leo Skepi responded to Samyra’s video by putting the blame back on fat people, saying that it was their bodies that were the problem, not the brands who refuse to serve them. Skepi claimed that because he used to be fat, he was well within his rights to put his fatphobic opinion forward.

Culture, unfiltered

Twice a week, our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.

Related:

This hotly-anticipated Lily Gladstone drama is finally hitting theaters

Before Killers of the Flower Moon, the Indigenous nonbinary performer was already making waves for this Sundance hit.

As you can imagine, people were absolutely not having this nonsense. Before long, Skepi was being dragged every which way for his offensive comments, including by Samyra herself, who clapped back by reiterating that if fat people and fat bodies are part of a brand’s inclusivity statement, they’d better back up their words with some real action.

Skepi soon deleted the video, but not before being dragged by the small hairs across every known avenue of the Tok. And honestly, it was beautiful to behold. TikTok legend Drew Afualo took Skepi down a peg by explaining absolutely everything that’s wrong with promoting fatphobic culture on the app.

“Fatphobia goes far beyond insults,” she explained. “Fatphobia is literally ingrained in every part of our culture, our government, our heathcare system.”

The Circle‘s Sean Taylor also weighed in expressing her disappointment. “I walk out on the patio in my fat girl outfit,” she says, “and me and the gays smoking cigarettes, we’re girls together. And you’re gonna tell me don’t complain? I was under the impression that complaining on the Internet was part of queer culture.” That’s absolutely correct: it is!

And TikToker @ry2ky pointed out that blaming fat people for not being able to find clothes that fit is their fault—rather than an industry-wide aspect of fatphobia—is absolutely not what we’re doing in the year 2024.

Clothes should come in bigger sizes, period. That’s the gist, and that’s what every fat influencer will tell you. So why don’t brands listen? Well, “fatphobia” is the broader answer.

But queer mental health influencer @faerlyodd broke it down even further, explaining how fatphobia is already responsible for destroying fashion.

So is this the end of Leo Skepi? Who can say, but if it is, honestly, fine. Because on top of everything else, the fact that this man still has a photo of Lana Del Rey wearing a headdress in the “Ride” video as his Twitter cover image says everything.