Ellen DeGeneres Slams Abercrombie & Fitch
Ellen DeGeneres is weighing in on the Abercrombie & Fitch controversy regarding a Business Insider article claiming the retailer doesn't stock XL or XXL sizes in women's clothing because they don't want overweight women wearing their brand. Abercrombie in fact does not carry any size larger than a 10.
You know what I say to that? Oh, Fitch, please," DeGeneres cracks in her opening monologue for the episode airing Monday, May 20.
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She also slams the brand's notoriously skimpy clothing.
"You've probably heard about it [Abercrombie & Fitch] if you’re a teenager, or if you have a teenager, or if you like to wear shorts where most of your butt hangs out."
But the funny woman gets serious for a moment, lamenting the seemingly increasing desire to be as thin as possible.
"It's not just Abercrombie & Fitch. I’ve noticed a trend in women's clothing that's ridiculous. There's a size zero, which I don't understand," she says. " ... Now they have a size double zero. What are we aspiring to? ... Beauty isn't between a size 0 and 8. It's not a number at all. It’s not physical."
She also has some words of wisdom for her younger, more impressionable viewers.
"I know a lot of kids watch this show, so I wanna say one more thing to you all. What you look like on the outside is not what makes you cool. At all. I mean, I had a mullet and I wore parachute pants for a long, long time. And I'm doing ok," she smiles. "What's important is that you're healthy and you're happy. That's the most important thing."
Video: Kirstie Alley Blasts Abercrombie CEO
DeGeneres is the latest celeb to speak out against the brand, whose CEO Mike Jeffries' quote in a 2006 Salon article has caused widespread outrage.
"Candidly, we go after the cool kids," he was quoted as saying. "We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
"That would make me never buy anything from Abercrombie even if I was cool and thin," Kirstie Alley recently told ET's Rob Marciano. "I got two kids in that [age] bracket that will never walk in those doors because of his view of people."
Jeffries has since released a statement to ET, saying his 2006 quote is being taken "out of context."
"I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense," he tells ET. "A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers. However, we care about the broader communities in which we operate and are strongly committed to diversity and inclusion. We hire good people who share these values. We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics."