Yuri said she follows international standards that other singers use (Photo by Adrián Monroy/Medios y Media/Getty Images)
A career spanning more than four decades and being audiences’ favorite artist doesn’t guarantee criticism or controversy. A great example of this is singer, actress and presenter Yuri, who is once again the subject of controversy for her way of expressing herself, this time by revealing her reasons for rejecting obese people as part of her body.
During an interview with Ana María Alvarado to discuss her upcoming solo tour, Euforia, the artist made a number of comments that some found offensive and discriminatory. Since the conversation was broadcast, Yuri has been the target of attacks on social networks for not having a group of dancers in his shows, in which the diversity of bodies can be appreciated.
During the interview, the artist pointed out that while she has some requirements for the appearance of her work team, she secures them from a purely technical point of view. Yuri said that he has a team of 30 dancers for this show, chosen after auditioning a hundred professionals in the field.
The artist from Veracruz did not deny the lack of diversity in her dance corps, but justified it with international references that are not far removed from her artistic inspiration. “What happened, let’s see, have you seen a chubby Madonna dancer? A dancer has to have a dancer’s body, but that’s not because I’m a racist,” said the ‘The Damned Spring’ singer.
For Yuri, the issue of weight is not a question of discrimination but of discipline (Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for Univision)
In fact, the artist shared her vision on the subject without any filters. “They’re strict with one request from me: they have to stay skinny because a lot of dancers come in, start the tour and throw their bellies,” he added.
The reason for this request? “All the American singers’ dancers have great bodies, so I say being with me is a lot of discipline, don’t think they’ll get fat,” Yuri said.
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The artist emphasizes: “I have nothing against fat people, but dancers are always characterized by a good body, because obviously for the lady’s eyeball.”
Despite his statement, Yuri has been the subject of memes on social networks and some comments criticizing his position on his team’s weight. Many media outlets have repeated these statements and it is they who have labeled the artist’s attitude “fatphobia” more than the fans themselves.
Yuri has always kept a great figure and hopes her dancers will do the same (Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy)
The singer expressed, “I’m everything, fat phobia, mammophobia, ideophobia, egg phobia, I’m everything, I laugh, I laugh,” the singer said, downplaying the controversy.
Similarly, to minimize the matter, Yuri urged his critics to be more original with their inventions. “Really change him, tell me something else, I don’t know he has 3 breasts, the old woman put on 4 buttocks, anything, invent something crazy for me,” he said with his traditional sense of humor.
It’s not the first time Yuri has been confronted with these kinds of comments. The singer was previously embroiled in rumors that she was homophobic. She’s denied it repeatedly, and this time she’s done it again. “I never said anything that they put out a video where I speak bad about the community and there, yeah look, in front of you all, sorry I’m on my knees because sometimes you pour it and make it muddy, you do it too very often muddy,” he added.