April 12, 2012 16:40

Lady Gaga comes under fire over 'pop stars don't eat' comment

'Born This Way' star's flippant Tweet criticised by eating disorder groups

Photo Gallery: Lady Gaga
Photo: PA

Lady Gaga has become embroiled in a Twitter spat with her followers and eating disorder groups after a joke she made on the social networking site fell flat.

The singer used her account to make a wry comment about the grueling diet and exercise regime she is currently being put through as she prepares for her forthcoming mammoth tour, writing:

Just killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IWasBornThisWay
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) April 10, 2012

Her comments caused offence among her fans, however, with @AyshaFalco writing: "why would you even promote a message like that? Disgusting that you'd joke about such a serious illness", while ?@OhDemi said her comments were "so wrong" and ?@Lexiesus claimed it was "one of the silliest things I've heard Gaga say".

The National Eating Disorder Association also expressed their disapproval of the comments, stating:

Huh? This is the same person who recently implored girls to stop dieting? ow.ly/adcK3
— NEDA (@NEDAstaff) April 11, 2012

In February this year, Gaga revealed that she had suffered with eating disorders in the past and had overcome bulimia to save her singing voice. Talking about her previous body image problems, she said: "I used to throw up all the time in high school, so I'm not that confident. And maybe it's easier for me to talk about it now because I don't do it any more. I wanted to be a skinny little ballerina but I was a voluptuous little Italian girl whose dad had meatballs on the table every night."

Despite being criticised for her tweeting, Gaga makes good use of the social networking site, and it was recently reported that she earns $30 million (£18.9 million) a year through her Twitter account.

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