“I was disappointed of course and a little bit hurt because LeeAnne knows my triggers,” Simmons said during an appearance on PeopleTV’s Reality Check. “I’ve struggled with my weight, I’ve talked about that openly. She went to one of those below-the-belt places that I just thought was really a low blow. There wasn’t a reason to do that.”
After the episode aired, Locken revealed on Twitter that she reached out to Simmons and apologized.
“She called me and left a message,” Simmons told PEOPLE. “I have not spoken to her because I feel like, she had said some hurtful things the night before that on Twitter,” Simmons explained. “Instead of just saying ‘I’m sorry,’ she kept on and on, saying, ‘Well you did this.’ It’s always tit for tat. Sometimes it needs to just be, ‘I’m sorry.’ ”
“The pettiness is silly,” Simmons continued. “If she would have just said I’m sorry and that is it, I would have probably been much more open to having a friendship. But right now, we’re just at a standstill.”
Simmons had previously spoken out about Locken’s words before the comment aired on RHOD. “In the last decade, courageous public figures have outed body shaming,” Simmons wrote on Instagram, after quoting a phrase from J.K. Simmons. “It is shameful, hateful and discriminatory… the basest form of bullying.”
“Making statements about a person’s weight says nothing about the person these comments are being directed toward, and everything about a person that is spewing this hurtful and disgusting narrative,” she said. “CHARACTER…plain and simple without pretense…that is what defines another human being…not their weight nor their size.”
“I’ve openly shared my struggles with my body weight and image both privately and publicly,” she continued. “I’ve learned that you must love yourself and embrace your body for what it is all while doing your best to be healthy and whole.”
“I hope tonight’s episode will help to renew a commitment to ourselves and others to support each other instead of scrutinizing each other, to love each other instead of judge each other,” Simmons stressed. “If appearance is the only thing that defines you and others in your world, then you have a lot more to learn about life than I can write in a simple post. I hope everyone takes the time to make steps to self-improvement and towards kindness and compassion. This is way more important than what size dress you or I am wearing. I’m learning to love my body each and every day and be thankful for all of the blessings in my life! Let’s all stay positive and celebrate self-love together.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
