CMAT shares 'deep sadness' over body-shaming abuse after Radio 1 Big Weekend set

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. CMAT shares 'deep sadness' over body-shaming abuse after Radio 1 Big Weekend set21 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleNaomi de SouzaBBC Newsbeat Getty ImagesCMAT performed right before Olivia Dean at Radio 1's Big Weekend festival in SunderlandSinger-songwriter CMAT has shared her "deep sadness" about body-shaming abuse she received after her performance at Radio 1's Big Weekend. The Irish musician says she has experienced a "difficult" few days after performing at the music festival in Sunderland because of online comments about her weight. CMAT says she is "not choosing to look like this or weigh this much as some kind of punk rock act of liberty" but that she simply has "a body".

It's not the first time the country singer's addressed being fat-shamed online - in 2024 she said the disabled comments on a video of her performing at Big Weekend in Luton. CMAT, whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, performed on the main stage of Big Weekend on Sunday evening, before headliner Olivia Dean. She opened up about the latest body-shaming abuse in an Instagram post on Thursday, saying she felt she needed to "wade in and speak for myself".

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"It is literally so boring for me, a gorgeous genius, to keep having to yap on about how horribly I am treated because of my body," she wrote. The singer said she would "love to stop" talking about it but can't, "because it keeps happening, at an accelerating and worsening pace as I become more famous". "There is no relief from this - nobody can protect me or save me from this, and all that is demanded of me is more and more work as every environment I am placed in becomes more hostile.

"Comments have been disabled on videos of CMAT's performance at Big Weekend on Radio 1's Instagram - but they haven't for posts about other artists. Newsbeat has asked Radio 1 for a comment on this. 'Toxic comment sections'CMAT also shared screenshots of a Substack essay by a fan called Front Row Feels which she says has "really has summed up a lot of what is causing my deep sadness".

The essay compared how she's treated with fellow Big Weekend acts Zara Larsson and Olivia Dean. "What struck me most while scrolling through those toxic comment sections was the glaring disparity in how different women on that same lineup were treated," Front Row Feels wrote. Last year, CMAT revealed that some of the insults she received following Big Weekend in Luton inspired her track Take A Sexy Picture Of Me.

"I was just wearing clothes and everyone was very annoyed at me for that," she told Radio 1's Jack Saunders at the time. CMAT's team said she didn't want to say anything further when asked for a comment. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

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