YouTuber and beauty guru Jaclyn Hill has responded to fitness and diet influencer ‘Freelee the Banana Girl’ for criticizing her diet and appearance in a divisive video.
Leanne ‘The Banana Girl’ Ratcliffe has been creating content on YouTube for over a decade. The Australian influencer makes a living hawking her ‘frugivore’ diet and earthy lifestyle of ‘living off the land’ to her nearly 1 million combined subscribers.
A ‘frugivore’ is different from someone who is vegan; the fruitarian diet consists mainly of raw fruits and other plant products like roots, nuts, shoots, and seeds. The Banana Girl often shares what she eats in a day, explains how she sustains her diet, and reacts to other influencers’ diets.
These particular videos have garnered Freelee a somewhat negative opinion online. Many of Freelee’s diet reaction videos are filled with comments accusing the frugivore of unnecessary criticism and negativity toward those she’s reacting to, which have even included the likes of Jenna Marbles in the past.
Freelee’s latest reaction video comes as a response to Jaclyn Hill, who, aside from her usual beauty content, has started to share recipes and cooking videos with her YouTube audience.
In Freelee’s video, the Banana Girl accuses Hill of having an “incredibly unsafe” diet, disgustedly pointing out the “pig butt” and “ocean cockroaches” Jaclyn prepares as appetizers (read: bacon and crab).
Freelee’s criticisms aren’t limited to just food; she also spends some time hitting out at Jacyln’s outfit and nails, calling them “unhygienic bacteria collectors.”
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“You’re always going to have weight issues if you eat this way,” Ratcliffe said. “We can tell you’re still having weight issues because you’re just dieting on and off, and you’re binging out, and having these snacks, which are just fattening and unhealthy, bad for the environment and animals.”
Hill came across the video and decided to post her response via Twitter, where she hit back at the Banana Girl for her comments.
“I understand that people like her are very passionate about their beliefs & lifestyle,” she wrote. “But speaking on my weight, health, etc… is not okay! These are my ‘guilty pleasure snacks,’ not my everyday lifestyle.”
https://twitter.com/Jaclynhill/status/1410082085503700994
Jaclyn went on to explain that since she’s gained weight, she’s received “a different level of hate” that “deserves to have a light shined on it,” and summed up her response with a poignant clapback: “My body is not your concern. Are you my DR? No… didn’t think so.”