David Foster and Katharine McPhee are no strangers to critics of their relationship. In the past, they've defended their 35-year age gap, but now, McPhee has a message for "haters" about a different issue. On Dec. 28, Foster posted a photo of McPhee sitting in a yard wearing a bikini on Instagram. He captioned the photo "what baby!" Foster and McPhee welcomed a child, Rennie, in February.
In response to Foster's post, he received a number of comments arguing that his caption was insensitive to other mothers. Other followers took particular issue with the post since McPhee has been open about struggling with an eating disorder in the past.
Now, McPhee has posted her own Instagram to defend her husband and explain why she sees the response to Foster's post as evidence of an "overly sensitive society." Read on to see what she had to say.
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Foster's post led to some serious backlash.
A scroll through the comments on Foster's "what baby!" Instagram shows many users criticizing the 72-year-old composer's post. "'Uncomfortable antiquated compliments' on aisle 1," wrote one person. Another said, "No pressure to all the women around the globe watching." Someone else wrote, "Weird thing to post about your wife who had a public bout with bulimia. Ick." Another added, "Yuck. And didn’t I read she used to have an eating disorder? Which is a life long battle. This 'bounce back as fast as you can' mindset is horrible- stop perpetuating it."
McPhee responded to those critics on her own feed.
The day after Foster's post went up, McPhee responded to the people who expressed their discomfort with his Instagram. "The press around my husbands photo he posted of me is so dumb," she wrote in her own post. "I’m sorry but we are not sorry. And for all of you who can’t deal with it maybe this helps."
She went on to explain that she's struggled with her weight and that it has fluctuated over the years. "Does that make you feel better? There is nothing wrong with that -most people do," she wrote. She then added that she "lost this baby weight" without dieting. "I’ve let me body do its thing and found a great workout. That’s it."
"I’ll probably gain weight again at some point too. Who cares?" the American Idol runner-up continued. "BUT people freaking out about what my husband captioned seriously get a life... Stop being so offended by what people post who have zero impact on your life and move on. Maybe you should have more of an attitude of like, let’s say… 'oh that’s nice he thinks his wife is hot.' I cannot with this overly sensitive society right now. But as Taylor Swift said haters gonna hate."
McPhee received some supportive responses...
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockMcPhee received many supportive comments on her post, including from Foster's adult daughters, Erin and Sara Foster. "If you had of [sic] had cellulite and stretch marks in the photo and the caption was exactly the same we would all be celebrating his post," Sara wrote in part. "But you don’t and that’s not allowed to be celebrated. Also, you had a baby almost a year ago, not yesterday."
Erin wrote, "If I can accept my step mom looking like this, you certainly should be able to. The photo wasn’t altered or filtered and she’s had no surgery. You can’t shame someone for feeling cute after a baby whether she’s sharing stretch marks or a six pack. Let her live."
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...And some more criticism.
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockBut, she also received comments from those trying to explain that they don't have an issue with the photo of her body but with Foster's caption.
"I love and support you and him and your family, but come on. I mean COME ON. You say the worlds overly sensitive, but you’re still in recovery from your ED," wrote one commenter. "You spoke about worries of it coming back during your pregnancy. So yes the caption 'what baby' knowing how you’ve struggled so much with weight and an ED was out of touch."
Another added, "He could’ve captioned it 'my wife is hot' and no one would’ve thought anything but you go sir! It’s the emphasis of weight that is what she should understand people found out of place."
"He absolutely is entitled to feel that way about his wife- it was his wording!" said someone else. "The fact that he related it to the baby/pregnancy was what made it not okay. As women most of us are already hard on ourselves when it comes to body image. After baby it’s not easy to love your body and all the changes."
McPhee has opened up about having an eating disorder.
Kathy Hutchins / ShutterstockMcPhee has spoken about dealing with an eating disorder in interviews she's done in the past. For instance, the singer appeared on Dr. Berlin's Informed Pregnancy Podcast and shared that she feared having an eating disorder relapse while she was pregnant.
"I have felt really stable in my life in the last four or five years, and my weight has been sort of more consistent," she said (via Entertainment Tonight) "But feeling like there was a relapse after getting pregnant was really shocking and upsetting and concerning for me." She explained that she had trouble determining whether she was eating more because she was pregnant or if it was "the eating disorder version of me."
She added, "I look back at these pictures and my husband was documenting, like, every day, because I'd be like, 'Take a picture of me now. Am I showing?' And I look back and I'm like, 'Oh my god, why was I so hard on myself?'" The 37-year-old said she spoke with a psychiatrist who helped her work through her concerns.
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