PHOTOS Gigi Hadid shuts down body shamers with bold Instagram post

Gigi Hadid took to Instagram today with a lengthy, pointed post intended to shut down a recent rash of body shaming that’s engulfed her social media pages. Judging by the initial wave of comments–almost all of which are strongly positive–the post worked.

Recent hateful comments have gotten to her “a little,” Gigi admitted. She also acknowledged that hers is a body type that hasn’t often been seen in high fashion, and that it’s been hard for her to find success–though Hadid had just completed successful runs for Versace and Diane von Furstenberg during New York and Milan’s Fashion Weeks.

“I don’t think I’m the best at any given show,” Hadid said in response to her body shamers. “You can make up all the reasons you think I am where I am, but really, I’m a hard worker that’s confident in myself, one that came at a time when the fashion industry was ready for a change. I’m just doing my job.”

Later in the post, Hadid becomes even more candid: “Yes,” she says, “I have boobs, I have abs, I have a butt, I have thighs, but I’m not asking for special treatment. I’m fitting into the sample sizes. Your mean comments don’t make me want to change my body, they don’t make me want to say no to the designers that ask me to be in their shows, and they definitely don’t change designers[‘] opinions of me.”

Here’s the complete Gigi Hadid body shaming retort:

A photo posted by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Sep 28, 2015 at 4:25am PDT

In just seven hours, the post has received 211,000 likes (Hadid has 6.5 million Instagram followers) and nearly 10,000 comments–almost all of which appear to be positive. And at least one high-profile celebrity is celebrating the Gigi Hadid body shaming brushoff. Kris Jenner re-posted Gigi’s retort to her own Instagram page, captioning it with glowing praise: “This is from one of the sweetest, smartest, and most beautiful girl inside and out, in the world. Why do people with no life, no purpose, who are angry and bitter and ignorant, or just plain nasty and mean, choose to bring everyone else down instead of finding the best in others?”

The New York Times reports that Hadid has moved on from Venice to Paris, where she will model during Paris Fashion Week. The exact fashion houses for whom Hadid will model have yet to be announced.  

(Photo credits: Gigi Hadid body shaming via Instagram)