Fans of Katharine McPhee are defending her after a video of her husband calling her “fat” resurfaced online.
The original video was posted to TikTok in March 2023 and was recorded during a joint concert by the pair. In the video, McPhee and her husband, David Foster, talk about the first time they met the audience.
She told an audience member she met in 2006, [she] “She was a slightly chubby, bubbly contestant on American Idol.” McPhee competed on season five of the competition show, placing second, and Foster appeared as a guest mentor during that season.
“Yeah, you were fat,” Foster quickly agreed, to which McPhee was taken aback by his response, retorting, “I was just a little fat. I was just young.”
Foster has faced backlash from McPhee’s fans after a video in which she calls McPhee “fat” resurfaced on TikTok. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images, courtesy of the Elton John AIDS Foundation)
David Foster and Katharine McPhee have a marriage without ‘strict rules’
In a new video posted by a TikTok user, the social media user explained that it’s possible that Foster was “being sarcastic” when he called her fat. However, the user noted that this is also not okay, pointing out that she “agreed with him when he said he was fat.” The social media user added that rather than agreeing with Foster “when he said that about himself,” she “could have literally said something else and it would have been better.”
People in the comments section seemed to agree with TikTok users.
“I’m heartbroken,” one woman wrote. “This beautiful girl was never fat. Please don’t call my wife fat. Not in jest or in earnest.”
“Oh my goodness I can’t believe he would say that???,” another wrote, while a third chimed in: “Oh my goodness my jaw dropped in shock.”
The “Smash” star has spoken openly about her struggles with weight in the past, revealing that she has battled eating disorders, including bulimia.
After giving birth to her son in March 2021, the singer said on “Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy Podcast” that her body image became a major issue and “suddenly it came up in a way that it hadn’t been in a long time.”
McPhee has been open about her struggles with eating disorders in the past. (Chris Polk/Fox Television Networks’ FilmMagic)
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“But what felt like a relapse after pregnancy was really shocking, upsetting and worrying to me because from the very beginning of my pregnancy I was suddenly obsessed with food and it really distorted my appearance,” McPhee explained.
After speaking with a psychiatrist, she learned that it’s “very common for women who have struggled with eating disorders in the past to experience some sort of relapse during pregnancy.”
“And just meeting with him and him talking to me made me feel so much better, knowing I wasn’t alone in that mindset. He didn’t hand me a bottle of pills and say, ‘Here’s some pill for your anxiety.’ He didn’t do that when he met with me. He just talked to me about it and asked me questions,” McPhee said.
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McPhee is Foster’s fifth wife. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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The two began dating in 2017, got engaged in 2018, and married in 2019. Many fans were surprised by the 34-year age difference between them. McPhee was married to Nick Cokas from 2008 to 2016, while Foster was married four times before marrying McPhee, most recently to Yolanda Hadid from 2011 to 2017.
Fox News Digital has reached out to McPhee’s representatives for comment.
