Gigi Hadid Shuts Down Body Shamers, Speaks Out On Hashimoto's Disease

Gigi Hadid  slammed critics of her weight on social media on Sunday night, explaining her journey with Hashimoto’s disease and imploring others to have more empathy.

“For those of you so determined to come up w why my body has changed over the years, you may not know that when I started @ 17 I was not yet diagnosed w/Hashimoto’s disease; those of u who called me ‘too big for the industry’ were seeing inflammation & water retention due to that,” the model wrote.

The 22-year-old’s tweet thread went into detail about how she dealt with her Hashimoto’s diagnosis and the effect it has had on her shape.

Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune condition that targets your thyroid. As your thyroid gland is responsible for producing hormones that coordinate many of your body’s functions, it can lead to numerous health problems.

Hadid’s message to fans and critics goes on to say that her body type doesn’t have to suit any specific “beauty” expectation and that people need to stop accusing her of drug use.

“Use your energy to lift those that you admire rather than be cruel to those u don’t,” she wrote.

Friends of Hadid shared messages of support on Twitter. Fellow models came out in droves to send well-wishes. Kendall Jenner wrote, “preach ,” while Martha Hunt, Lily Aldridge and Hailey Baldwin also tweeted their love.

Actress Ruby Rose wrote that she couldn’t wait to see Hadid in Milan and apologized that Hadid even had “to explain something so ridiculous to people.”

Chrissy Teigen suggested Hadid address the haters in a much more succinct way.

Hadid has previously spoken out about body shamers on social media , but this is the first time she’s addressed her Hashimoto’s diagnosis.