We have a lot of time for Reneé Rapp, AKA Regina George, AKA our new feminist hero. The Mean Girls star has been tearing up social media with her exhilarating approach to press interviews, from blasting the owner of a bus tour company for his apparent sexism to claiming she's “ageist” against millennial women – we'll admit that last one hurt just a little bit.
One thing we definitely do not have time for, though? Body-shaming. While celebrities have long been subject to punishing body scrutiny, we must ditch the idea that it's a rite of passage – particularly for young women navigating the spotlight. Thankfully, Reneé Rapp is leading the charge against this disturbing – and, let's face it, sexist – cultural norm.
Whether she's talking about the realities of living with an eating disorder or calling out body-shamers, Reneé is unapologetically forging a more promising path for women in the entertainment industry (and beyond).
Here, we've rounded up some of our favourite Reneé Rapp moments. And if you're reading this Reneé, please never change.
When she shut down speculation about her body…
Speaking at the Teen Vogue Summit in 2023, Reneé was asked, “From a public perception [and] media standpoint, how do you reckon with what you can control and what you can’t?” Her response was – obviously – brilliant.
“The conversation around my body is f*cking stupid,” Rapp replied. "I’m like, ‘just shut the f*ck up.’ I mean, you’re so obsessed. You are clinically so obsessed. And I get it. I know I look good. You don’t need to talk about it.”
“I mean, it’s ridiculous,” she continued. “It definitely hurts my feelings on a certain level. I won’t say, ‘It doesn’t bother me, and I’m doing great with it.’ I think it’s harmful. I think it’s stupid. And I think it’s ignorant. But also, again, you’re obsessed. Like, shut up.”
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When she called out body-shaming on the Mean Girls Broadway set…
In an interview with The Guardian, Reneé claimed that people involved in the show “would say some vile fucking things to me about my body,” which exacerbated her eating disorder. At one stage, she says, it got so severe that her parents flew to New York to try and pull her out of the show for the sake of her health.
She then reflected on how she navigates her relationship with food, saying, “Eating disorders don't just go away, and like, you're healed, like: 'Sorry, I can eat again, ha ha!”
“It's a lifelong thing. There are battles with addiction and whatever everywhere. I still struggle with it, but at least my parents know that I've been taken out of environments that were really harmful to my sickness, which is awesome and a huge win.”
When she spoke candidly about eating disorders
At the Teen Vogue Summit, Reneé was asked about her experiences on the set of the Mean Girls Broadway production and how it impacted her body image. She replied, “I think my relationship with my body and eating disorders at large is very complicated.”
She compared eating disorders to alcoholism, noting that she's been in close proximity to both conditions in her family. “It’s an addiction. It’s something that is ingrained in your psyche and subconscious,” she explained.
She continued, “But, it’s not something you can avoid, right? You must eat to survive and also just be a full person and to enjoy life and eat to — oh, I don’t know — want to fucking eat.”
“Right now, I’m not going to say, ‘I’m doing amazing and it’s all better.’ It’s incredibly not. And I think it’s just going to be like that for a while.”
She concluded, “But that’s fine for me. If I’m safe and not putting myself in danger, then I consider that a win. Because I’ve been not in that place before, so this feels good.”
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677 or beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
We caught up with the film's costume designer, Tom Broecker, to find out.
