6 Times Gabourey Sidibe Proved That Confidence is a Major Key
By Jasmine Grant
We can’t help but celebrate one of Empire's most beloved cast members – Gabby Sidibe. With the culture of body shaming at a peak, it’s refreshing to see a bold, beautiful, full-figured, curvy, dark-skinned woman getting her just due in Hollywood. Critics thought Sidibe would never find work in the business since her breakout role in the 2009 film Precious. Despite big time agents and producers counting her out, she’s garnered considerably more mainstream roles and has shown just how far confidence can take you.
Let’s take a look at the many times Gabby Sidibe has been a champion for loving yourself. Women of all sizes should take note.
Gabby's response to Lee Daniels' "350 pound Black girl" gaffe.
Lee Daniels will always be credited for giving Gabs her big break, but he did unintentionally take a jab at his protégé at the 2010 NAACP Awards. In his best director acceptance speech he explained, "No one in Hollywood told me they wanted to see a movie about a 350 pound black girl who had HIV." Though he was solely referring to the fictional character that Precious is based on, all eyes zoomed in on Gabby. Immediately realizing his slip of the tongue, Daniels struggled to clean up the faux pas. Fortunately, Gabby has a wicked sense of humor and took it all in stride. "OK. I wanted that in there. Thank you," she laughed while patting him on the shoulder. Fast-forward to the 2:40 make to save time.
When she hilariously responded to rumors that she was fired from Empire due to her weight.
You may have an issue with her size, but rest assured her look will never keep her from getting those checks. False rumors started swirling late last year that Gabby’s character Becky was getting axed from Empire because her weight was too distracting from the show. Despite every indication that this couldn’t have been true (she’s in an Instagram post with Jussie Smollet literally every other minute), people speculated till the cows came home. Gabby’s response tweet, while saying so little, hilariously shut down the rumor once and for all.
Her glorious Twitter response to haters making fun of her red carpet look.
Gabby Sidibe served top-notch shade to haters who had negative opinions about her at 2014 Golden Globes red carpet look. The Precious star donned a cream colored Grecian style frock by Daniel Musto and Michael Costello with sequin detail. The dress was a modest cut while showing off her arms and full figure. Apparently, a few Twitter trolls don’t think full-figured woman reserve the right to feel comfortable in their own skin. Some even went so far as to say she looked like a condom. But Gabby swiftly left the haters stuck on stupid by tweeting supreme shade.
She put Joan Cusack on blast for trying to crush her Hollywood dreams.
Andy Cohen of Watch What Happens Live is known to dig deep in his celebrity interviews, and he treated his sit down with Gabby Sidibe’s no differently. In fact, he got a juicy little tidbit out of the 32-year-old actress about her run-in with actress Joan Cusack, who told her she’d never make it to the big leagues because of her size. During the infamous “Plead the Fifth” segment, Andy asked Gabby to name a celebrity she was most disappointed by when finally meeting them. “I met Joan Cusack, who is my favorite favorite — I love her — but, it was before I became [famous] or whatever,” Gabby says of the encounter. “[Joan] says, ‘Oh honey, you should really quit the business, it’s so image-conscious.’” Gabby assured that Joan was only trying to keep it 100, but unfortunately she now has to eat her words.
Her Parade Magazine interview responding to mean American Horror Story viewers:
American Horror Story has racked up more cult fans than Leo racks up supermodels after the club. Viewers who hadn’t necessarily gotten a sneak peek at Gabby’s work were impressed…but a few negative nellys had some ugly things to say about Gabby’s appearance and weight. In an interview with Parade Magazine, she dished on how creative genius Ryan Murphy was the role model that helped take her acting to the next level and be totally unbothered by the negative press. “I’m less and less concerned with fitting in. I was born to stand out. I don’t care whether or not people will find me attractive on screen. That’s not why I became an actor. I know that more and more with each new role.”
Her flawless clap back at viewers who criticized her love scene in Empire.
Gabby set the internet ablaze during a steamy scene on Empire season 2 unfold. In an intimate scene with boyfriend MC J Poppa, Gabby shows some skin, wrapping her full figured legs around his body. Memes and jokes lit up the internet, but Gabby as usual was unbothered. In a blog post for Entertainment Weekly, she writes, "You may have your memes. Honestly, I’m at work too busy to check Twitter anyway. #Booked." Well alright now!