A storm is brewing: Actor and new (again) mom Kate Hudson is the new brand ambassador for Weight Watchers, and not everyone is thrilled with the company’s choice.
Because Kate Hudson.
That’s Hudson — at 40 — riiight after having her third child, daughter Rani Rose, on Oct. 2.
Weight Watchers recently shortened its name to “WW,” in hope of shifting the company’s focus, making the brand less about weight and more about wellness. And Deepwater Horizon star Kate Hudson — who just celebrated the fifth anniversary of her mega-successful fitness-wear company, Fabletics — is all about wellness. So what’s the problem?
It pains us to say this, but movie-star Hudson at the beginning of her WW journey isn’t exactly relatable — at least not in the old-school Weight-Watchers way. The Instagram post above shows Hudson doing her best to look like an average 40something, postpartum woman. Unfortunately, she’s already failing at that — and it’s not her fault. We blame her ridiculous genes (Goldie Hawn is her mom, after all) for the already-slim postpartum bod. She already looks — and, more importantly, clearly feels — far better and more empowered than most folks who are depending on WW. So when she kicks off her new gig saying that she can’t wait to drop 25 pounds, it’s a just little hard to swallow. My own Polish ancestors would have already tied Kate down and force-fed her cheese pierogies to get her strength up.
The pole-dancing setup in Kate’s family room is kind of throwing us, too. I mean, pole-dancing is rad! But in-home pole dancing is not something most of us can show up — or shell out — for. It feels a little like asking us to embrace Gwyneth Paltrow and her jade vagina eggs as a spokesperson for a Wal-Mart self-care line.
Is this a conversation we like having? Um, no. Generally speaking, we’re all for anything, that helps to empower women to be their best, healthiest selves. But is this the “reimagining” of an inclusive brand into something that may make a whole lot of women feel very excluded — as if the battle is over before they’ve even begun, because who can keep up with Kate Hudson, or relate to her, um, “struggle”?
Of course, Hudson is fabulous in all her forms — and plenty of fans are thrilled about the choice. One Instagrammer wrote, “This is the most real celebrity post I have seen about post baby weight. Or just self care and balancing it with life. Thank you for this @katehudson.”
But also, this was a shot Kate posted 17 days after Rani Rose’s birth. Maybe it was a throwback? Who can tell? Seventeen days postpartum rarely looks like this.
She’s not a realistic role model for (at the very least) most postpartum women — or perimenopausal or menopausal women for that matter. The cold hard fact is that Hudson’s social media feeds have long been full of gym-spo and workouts and similarly skinny workout buddies.
“Wait what!?! She is always thin, after every child…. She shouldn’t be a WW spokesperson,” one commenter exclaimed on People’s Facebook account.
Another commenter wrote, “Gir[l], You’ve Always been thin. WW could have waited til Amy Schumer had her baby she’s more realistic than Kate.”
A third wrote, “[I]f they’re looking for a person normal people can relate to weight-struggle wise, this is not the one to pick. 9 months pregnant she was thinner and more fit that I’ve ever been in my entire life lol.”
And the debate rages on. Here are more comments from Hudson’s Instagram feed:
“I think she has skinny genes, doesn’t need WW. Breast feed for a few months and she’ll be back to her normal weight,” one commenter said.
“Ya’ll gonna shame ALL moms for wanting to get back to pre-baby weight?” another commenter retorted.
Fair enough and fair enough. Not everyone wants a “lifestyle” brand like WW. And historically, most people who have turned to Weight Watchers have been inspired by the brand’s spokesperson as a more relatable (body-wise) celeb: Oprah, whose weight-loss struggle has been lifelong.
But here’s Oprah with Hudson in a FaceTime call, fully onboard with the new recruit:
We dig women. We dig wellness. We dig women hitting their fitness goals. We just don’t dig feeling duped. Are you feeling duped?
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