Jameela Jamil responded to all the jokes that she would be the first famous person who would claim to have contracted coronavirus, and she's not thrilled. The actress has been accused of lying about having various health issues in the past, many claiming that she must have a mental disorder called munchausens, in which people deliberately act as though they have a physical or mental illness when they really don't. Jameela has spoken out about her real health struggles, revealing that she has a genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos syndrome, an invisible illness which causes all sorts of horrible side effects. However, jokes about her pretending to be sick persist, and with the spread of coronavirus, they've only become more severe. One comedian in particular tweeted, "Place your bets on who will be the first famous person to get Corona," followed by, "Jameela doesn't count." The outspoken activist shared a screenshot of the tweet with a response to the joke about her health.
"May you never suffer from chronic illness," Jameela said. "May you never wake up in pain and swollen every fucking day of your life. May you never struggle with an invisible disability. May you never be laughed at over it by people who have never met you...To the bad place you go." The comedian in question, Michelle Collins, retweeted the post, writing, "I HAVE FINALLY MADE IT. Learn to LOL about yourself girl, it's freeing."
Jameela replied, "Congratulations on making fun of my chronic pain and illness. Big day for you," before posting her own tweet a few days later about all the countless jokes others have already made about her pretending to contract coronavirus because of her reputation.
"If you’re gonna make a joke about how I am going to be the first actress with coronavirus, ya late and ya basic," she wrote on a series of screenshots of said jokes. "Joking about my mental and physical health doesn’t hurt me as much as other more vulnerable people with chronic illness/invisible disability/actual munchausens." Last month, Jameela's boyfriend, James Blake, took to Twitter to stand up for her after she was first "exposed" for allegedly lying about having an abundance of health issues. "May none of us ever know the pain and frustration of that existence," he wrote in a lengthy post about Jameela's real health struggles. "I'm not gonna stand by and let some total strangers try to push my girlfriend over the edge."
James Blake Defends Girlfriend Jameela Jamil
James Blake came to the defence of his girlfriend, Jameela Jamil, against recent claims that she has lied about her various health problems.
James Blake has some words for anyone who wants to come for his girlfriend, Jameela Jamil, after she was widely accused of faking various health problems for attention. James took to social media to address the situation and validate Jameela's medical issues, and to tell everyone to back off his lady.
"It's pretty disgusting to watch the woman I love just be dog piled on every day for such ridiculous things," he began the Notes app message. "She hasn't sold dangerous products to kids. She hasn't abused anyone. She hasn't funded anything dangerous or brought any deliberate harm to any marginalized group. She's done her best as an ever learning human, as most of us are, to help other people with her privilege. She does this because she had such a difficult life. Because she doesn't want others to feel alone, gaslit or ashamed the way she has."
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
James goes on to list the various struggles he's witnessed Jameela go through with her body, in an effort to validate them to those who were skeptical. "I am there for her swollen joints, her dislocations, her severe allergic reactions, her constant high fevers," he writes. "I was there for her concussion, her 3 months of seizures, when the doctor fave her the cancer diagnosis, and for all her operations and their complications due to EDS. I can feel the lumps in her back from the car accident and see all the scars. I am there when she turns down amazing job opportunities because of her health limitations. I actually live with her. Her being attractive, tall, and successful doesn't mean she hasn't been sick."
He then describes the specific genetic connective tissue disorder Jameela does actually have. "Ehlers Danlos syndrome is a very real, very debilitating condition. More and more people are discovering they have it, but because it's vastly under researched and the patients, as with most invisible disabilities look well, people constantly doubt and mock those suffering. May none of us ever know the pain and frustration of that existence. I feel lucky not to, watching how many jobs and fun nights out my girlfriend has had to turn down because of what her body can and can't do. Huge, life changing jobs."
Rich Fury/Getty Images
He concludes his statement by challenging Jameela's haters to confront themselves and reevaluate what they're doing. "You don't know this woman. A lot of you literally think she's Tahani from the Good Place. You don't know what her life is, and has been like. But I do, and I'm not gonna stand by and let some total strangers try to push my girlfriend over the edge to what...stop her from helping kids with eating disorders? stop removing mainstream shame of talking about mental health? What are any of you even doing? And why are so many of you enjoying this? It's sick to watch, and I don't ever see men treated like this, the way we tear women from limb to limb."
The Internet began to "dog pile" onto Jameela by questioning the legitimacy of Jameela's health issues after she was heavily criticized for signing on to be a judge on the upcoming HBO voguing competition show, Legendary, in which eight different ballroom houses will compete for a grand prize. Folks expressed their disappointment that someone with no voguing experience was seemingly taking up space in the ballroom scene, which is a predominately black and Latino subculture of the LGBTQ community. Jameela attempted to defend her position and validate her decision by coming out as queer, which only landed her more scrutiny.
Recent Posts
Aphrodite’s Child – 666 – The Apocalypse Of St John: 50th Anniversary Boxset
Here’s what Sleep Token played as they kicked off 2024 European tour, with III and IV missing out due to illness
Bob Dylan, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, November 5, 2024
BTS’ RM releases trailer for upcoming documentary ‘RM: Right People, Wrong Place’
My Chemical Romance’s Frank Iero shares reasons for voting: “It is far less likely that any Nazis or other hate groups will be voting for Kamala Harris”