Normally when Al Roker does something awkward , we think it’s cute. But today, critics are saying that grilling co-anchor Natalie Morales about her weight on air, well… that’s the line , Al.
During a Today show discussion about eating disorders and food obsession, the crew brought up MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski’s bold tweet posted last night:
“My weight. One year ago today I was 118 and felt fat. I feel good about this actually,” she wrote with an image that shows her current weight: 135.9.
Morales jumped in just to say that the weight issue is a difficult one for women, and that she wouldn’t be comfortable sharing hers publicly, so Roker apparently thought she should share her weight publicly.
“Why not?” he asked. “You don’t obsess about it, you let it go,” he continued. “You just say what it is and then it’s done. There’s no obsession.”
Morales gracefully side-stepped the comment and it seemed to be over, but the feminist corners of the Internet were already fuming.
At Jezebel , Madeleine Davies branded Roker a “total dick” and advised both Roker and Willie Geist to “leave Natalie Morales the f*** alone and stop bullying her to reveal her weight.”
Pop Spy got in on the action, too. They posted a “message” to the host from the National Eating Disorders Association which said that the “best-known contributor to the development of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is body dissatisfaction,” or, you know, being uncomfortable with your weight and/or how you look.
In defense of Roker, he probably felt he was in trusted company and got a little too comfortable. Not only that, his own struggles with weight and weight loss are well-documented, so he probably assumed he was an equal player in the conversation due to his own experiences.
But we have to side with the critics on this one, Al. There are some things you just don’t talk about, and for men, women’s weight is at the top of the list!
Watch Al Roker pressuring Natalie Morales to reveal her weight on air below:
[Image: Shutterstock ]
