Tori Spelling says she never meant to cause anyone pain with her April Fool’s joke claiming to be pregnant with her sixth child.
Tori Spelling had fans questioning if she was going to be a new mom again when on Apr. 1 she shared a Instagram photo of her cradling what appeared to be a sizable “baby bump” and writing “No. 6” in the caption. Now she’s is confirming it was a prank, but that she did it to get back at the press for body shaming her, and never meant to joke about or cause pain to couples who are struggling with infertility and loss.
In an Apr. 2 IG post, mother of five Tori, 47, began, “Every week press and magazine outlets ask if I’m pregnant. To set the record straight, I am not. The fact is, after my fifth baby, my body didn’t bounce back like it had before. That’s when the constant questions of ‘yet another’ pregnancy first began. Unless you’re in the public eye, it’s hard to understand what it feels like to be body shamed so publicly.”
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“I feel like I have to constantly defend my body, when instead I should be honoring it for the miracle of life it gave me five times. I know that pregnancy is an extreme blessing. And I would never intentionally poke fun at losing a child or not being able to carry one. I myself have miscarried,” she continued. Tori and husband Dean McDermott are parents to five healthy children: Liam, 14, Stella, 12, Hattie, 9, Finn, 8, and Beau, 4.
“My post was simply to turn the tables on for once on the press. They constantly create wild and often hurtful stories about me, my body and my family. For those of you that are hurt, I hear you. I love you. I welcome your stories and I will try my best to be there and support you. Please accept this as a virtual hug to my entire community,” Tori ended her statement.
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Fans were very divided with Tori’s prank and her response, especially since she didn’t actually apologize for the pregnancy joke. Some were on her side, with @famedazed telling the former BH90210 star, “Tori, you have had so many lies printed about you over the years…I just can’t imagine! I was almost certain it was an April Fool’s and I assumed it for exactly the reasons you stated. Ignore the haters. if they had common sense, they would know you meant no harm,” while user @vanfrandippold wrote, “Cool. We all do things we regret and now it’s time for people to move on.” Fan @agikoumoutsakou assured the podcaster, “Don’t worry tori we love you.”
But others thought her pregnancy prank went too far and was hurtful to those struggling with infertility and loss. User @azrac87 told Tori, “Seriously? You could’ve ‘punished’ the media a different way….” while @daisyd525 wrote, “Whatever, it was dumb. I look pregnant too, wouldn’t do that.” Fan @ainsley.megan.ross commented, “Glad you set the record straight but I don’t see a much needed apology here,” and @babypukka agreed, writing, “Being a beautiful woman in the public eye and having experienced a loss as tragic as a baby, you should’ve known better. And, salt to the wound, you don’t even apologize. Classless.”
Tori Spelling seen during an actual pregnancy attending the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation’s ‘A Time For Heroes’ event in L.A. on Oct. 23, 2016. Photo credit: Shutterstock.
Tori could have learned a lesson from the backlash other celebs have received after pulling April Fool’s pregnancy pranks. Justin Bieber, 27, did it in 2019 by hinting wife Hailey Baldwin, 24, was expecting by posting an ultrasound photo. He was hit with the same comments about it being cruel to those dealing with infertility. Singer Gwen Stefani, 51, did the same thing inon April 1, 2016, hinting via an ultrasound she was expecting Blake Shelton‘s baby.Lindsay Lohan also tried an April Fool’s pregnancy prank in 2013, which was also a big flop. So note to stars: joking about pregnancy — even on April Fool’s — is still a highly sensitive topic.
Sourse: hollywoodlife.com
