More than 100,000 people have signed a petition, created by The Good Place actor Jameela Jamil, to try and stop paid celebrity endorsements of detox and diet products.
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The change.org petition, titled “Stop celebrities promoting toxic diet products on social media”, has over 118,000 signatures at the time of writing. Jamil’s goal is 150,000.
The actor first shared the petition on February 4, calling on her fans to “stop this toxicity together”.
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1094284895457730560
The petition reads:
“In the last few years we have seen a scary rise in the marriage of celebrity and diet/detox endorsement. There’s little to no information about the side effects or main ingredients, the harm they may cause or any of the science behind how these products are supposed to work. They are instead, flogged in glossy paid adverts by celebrities and influencers with no expertise or authority in nutrition/medicine/biology.”
Jamil has previously criticised the Kardashians, including Kim and Khloé, as well as Cardi B for endorsing apparent appetite-suppressant products and detox teas.
In the petition, the activist references a BBC article in which Professor Stephen Powis, a medical doctor, argues these endorsements have a “damaging effect on the physical and mental health of young people.”
“Highly influential celebrities are letting down the very people who look up to them, by peddling products which are at best ineffective and at worst harmful.
“Social media companies have a duty to stamp out the practice of individuals and companies using their platform to target young people with products known to risk ill health,” Powis told the BBC.
“Powder over the internet can’t make you look like a celebrity who has a personal trainer, a chef, a surgeon and who uses photoshop,” the petition continues.
“I’m calling on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat to stop these being posted by celebrities.”
In November of last year, Jamil famously shared a video to Instagram in which she showed a more ‘honest’ side of taking such products. In short, Jamil pretended to shit herself.
Jamil, who has suffered from anorexia in the past, is a leading voice for the body positive movement. On Instagram, the actor created the account @i_weigh, described as a “movement for us to feel valuable and see how amazing we are beyond the flesh in our bones.”
You can read more about the petition, HERE.
