Harley Quinn Smith has a message for body-shamers who questioned her vegan lifestyle.
On Tuesday, the Cruel Summer actress posted a lengthy note on Instagram about a comment she received on a photo her boyfriend took in which she felt “genuinely happy.” Smith, who has been vegan for more than five years, shared that the commenter asked her how a vegan could “gain so much weight” and that they were “supposed to be skinny.” While Smith said she’s “used to receiving hate on the internet,” she shut down the notion that veganism is about having a certain body type.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about veganism and dieting,” she wrote. “First of all, every single person’s body and what healthy looks like on their body is going to look different, vegan or not. So that being said, there is no such thing as one vegan body type.”
She also pointed out that while she believes veganism is a healthy diet choice, she made the commitment to eliminate animal products from her life from an animal-rights standpoint.
“When someone asks about my weight, relating it to veganism, I’m just like … no matter what my weight is, or what my body looks like, I would never choose to live another way because it’s what I believe in,” the Yoga Hosers star noted.
Smith also pointed out that she has a hormone disorder that affects her weight — but that regardless of her personal situation, “body-shaming is so unnecessarily negative and harmful.”
“Loving yourself isn’t always easy, it certainly isn’t for me, so why try to make that journey harder for anyone? Anywho, with that all being said, I’m gonna prob keep off the gram for the most part lol cause it’s what’s best for me at the moment, but please… think and act more compassionately,” she continued. “The world is dealing with enough right now, please think about how you can better spend your time to positively impact someone’s day, instead of saying hurtful s**t on the internet. Life is too short. Much love.”
Smith, who is the daughter of filmmaker Kevin Smith, previously encouraged her father to go vegan after he had a heart attack in 2018. She told People, “Going vegan isn’t hard, but it’s definitely something you have to get used to, being super aware. I’ve helped him through it, I’ve held his hand. It’s much easier to go through it when you have somebody.”
Kevin also helped his daughter fight back against online bullies. In 2016, he shut down a hater on Instagram who called Smith “ugly” and “talentless,” writing, “Here’s a nickel’s worth of free advice for folks like this Troll. If you hate me (or my kid) this much, the better use of your time is to make YOUR dreams come true, instead of slamming others for doing the same.”
Smith, for her part, took the comment in stride.
“At first I was like alright that hurts, but then I realized who the actual f**k cares?” she added. “I decided to laugh it off because no matter what, there are always going to be people in your life that are either jealous of you, don’t like you or perhaps are just looking to be negative, but you can’t let them get to you because if you let them upset you then they’re winning.”
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