'Precious' Actress Laughs off Criticisms of Gabourey Sidibe

'Precious' Actress Laughs off Criticisms of Gabourey Sidibe

Though "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe didn't nab a statuette at the Oscars, the night was clearly a win for her. She looked radiant on the red carpet, even flirting with Gerard Butler. The pressure to conform in Hollywood is legendary, but Sidibe is standing up to it with grace.

"I learned to love myself, because I sleep with myself every night and I wake up with myself every morning, and if I don't like myself, there's no reason to even live the life," she told New York magazine in September. "They [the press] try to paint the picture that I was this downtrodden, ugly girl who was unpopular in school and in life and then I got this role and now I'm awesome, but the truth is that I've been awesome, and then I got this role."

That hasn't stopped critics from attacking the actress for her size. An opportunistic weight loss supplement company recently wrote a letter to the 26-year-old performer claiming to be concerned about her health and offering her a year's supply of its product in exchange for an endorsement. "The only way you can reach your goal of someday winning that Oscar is by being active, fit, and most of all, healthy" chirps the letter leaked to TMZ.

Shock jock Howard Stern has also called the actress out, referring to her as "the size of a planet" and saying Hollywood and Oprah (a Sidibe champion) were liars for suggesting the star would continue to have a career in show business. Guess he doesn't realize she was just cast in Showtime series "The Big C."

Sidibe, for her part, hasn't dignified the recent criticism with a response. But Jessica Simpson, host of the new VH1 reality series "The Price of Beauty" came out in defense of Sidibe. "She walked the red carpet at the Oscars and she owned it. She had such confidence and I absolutely 100 percent think she could get anything in the world that
she wants."

Which is not to say Sidibe doesn't leave the door open for changing her image one day. "I love the way I look. I'm fine with it. And if my body changes, I'll be fine with that." Sounds remarkably healthy to us.