Camila Cabello recalls being body-shamed over bikini photos: ‘The whole day I felt insecure’

Camila Cabello isn’t changing her life to appease body shamers.

The “Havana” singer, who will next star in the new movie musical Cinderella on Amazon Prime, spoke to Bustle about what it was like to have paparazzi photos of her in a bikini go viral for body-shaming.

“The whole day I felt insecure,” Cabello told the outlet. “I felt like it was changing how I was thinking about food and eating ... really messing me up.”

Later, however, the star took to TikTok to face the scrutiny head on, sharing with her more than 12 million followers how she felt unconfident about running with her stomach out.

“I wasn't tucking it in, because I was running and existing like a normal person that doesn't tuck it in all the time," Cabello explained. "And I was like, 'Damn.' But then I reminded myself that being at war with your body is so last season."

Cabello recalled to Bustle that she felt “liberated “ after posting the TikTok.

“I went to the airport and so many women were coming up to me like, ‘I saw that TikTok and it resonated with me so much,’” she explained. “I actually feel my body insecurities went down after I posted that because I was like, ‘No matter what pictures come out or what people say, I’m now controlling the narrative.’”

Now, she has no interest in changing who she is for her haters.

“You can work out a few hours a day and never eat carbs and whatever, but that’s just not a balanced life. That’s not what I want,” the Fifth Harmony alum noted. “I can’t change to fit that mold.”

Cabello previously called for body acceptance in 2019, after she stumbled upon an article claiming people were body-shaming her. She took to her Instagram Story to write, “Honestly, the first thing I felt was super insecure just IMAGINING what these pictures must look like, ‘Oh no! My cellulite! Oh no! I didn't suck in my stomach!’ But then I was like … of course there are bad pictures, of course there are bad angles, my body's not made of f***ing rock, or muscle, for that matter."