“I would have preferred a happier, pain free, life.”
Jameela Jamil has addressed the onslaught of online abuse she received last week following accusations that she had lied about her previous illnesses.
The presenter and actor has in the past spoken about her health issues including eating disorders and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), however a recent viral Instagram Story suggested that Jamil was suffering from Munchausen’s syndrome, a mental illness that causes a person to act as if they are unwell.
Jamil had also been accused of lying about her past modelling career, an issue that she addressed this morning via a statement on Twitter.
“Last week triggered me to a point of near death,” she said.
“I have a fragile past with suicide. If you live in pain and have to survive a lot, just to still be here, it’s agonising to have people tell you that you made it up.
“What happened to me was incredibly cruel and scary and it triggered a lot of people who live in the same situation as me.”
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Jamil said that despite conflicting accusations that she had not been upfront about her illnesses, she has “answered every question about my health.”
“I have no further controversies to answer to and hope we can all move on from a conspiracy theory a privileged white woman I have never met,” she said.
“… who has a very questionable professional history if you google her, including unacceptable statements victim shaming rape survivors… started against me for literally no reason, as I pose no threat to anyone other than the diet/detox industry.”
Jamil said that she was “tired of the bullying” and “taunting”over her physical and mental health.
She added that she was sorry that those with invisible illnesses were being “used a punchline” by the likes of Piers Morgan, who she blocked on Twitter last week.
“I am so sorry to all the people who shared their accounts of not being believed over their chronic health problems and invisible disabilities,” she said. “I’ve experienced that my whole life and it’s traumatising and isolating.”
This comes after Jamil’s partner, James Blake, issued his own statement regarding social media’s treatment of his girlfriend, who is “dog piled on every day.”
You can read Jamil’s statement in full here.
