Tess Holliday calls out fat-shaming Uber driver in Instagram video
Commenting on a stranger's weight, size, or health is never okay. It makes for an awkward interaction at best, as plus-size model Tess Holliday learned -- though not for the first time -- in an Uber earlier this week.
When her Uber driver asked about her cholesterol levels while the model sat in the back seat of the black car she had ordered, Holliday turned on her video phone and caught the tail end of the male driver's fat-shaming inquiry.
In the Instagram post, you can hear him ask about her cholesterol. She responds that she's healthy, which seems to shut him up. But she's not staying quiet about the interaction.
Holliday addressed Uber in the short video's caption, writing that she will "no longer be using your services" with her "fat wallet." She added, "no one should have to tolerate this at any level of the services you offer."
An Uber spokesperson's response to the incident was, “We expect all riders and drivers to treat each other with respect as laid out in our Community Guidelines.”
The model, who is unabashedly proud of her size and confident in her health and looks, noted she mentioned the driver's own size (but not his face or any identifying features) to show what she deals with daily from all sorts of people.
No doubt that driver didn't get a very healthy review.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
