Man took on a $50 bet to humiliate a 'fat girl' on her birthday. Days later, her viral video left him apologizing on repeat

Despite awareness around body positivity, many plus-sized people face judgment even today. Emma Lyon or Emmy (@diaryofemmym) shared a similar incident that happened to her on her birthday. Well, a man sitting right across her at a nearby table approached her, pretending to be interested in her. But just as Lyon started interacting with him, he turned to his friends and made a really nasty body-shaming comment. The situation became even more humiliating when none of her friends took a stand for Lyon. On June 2, she posted a video on TikTok, narrating the horrifying incident, but things took an unexpected turn when it reached the fat-phobic guy. Lyon's video has over 7 million views.

The $50 bet

Lyon began by describing her experience as the only "big girl" in her friends' group. She prefaced by saying she had lost 40 to 50 pounds of weight and was feeling good about herself. While she and her friends were celebrating her birthday in a bar, there was a group of men sitting at a nearby table. Since they were close, the girls could hear them talking. After a while, one of them came up to strike up a conversation with Lyon. After a few basic questions, he asked for her number. Lyon was hesitant at first because the interaction felt quite unusual, but her friends encouraged her to do it. Right as she was about to give him her number, the guy turned to his friends and said, "You guys owe me $50." Everyone around her started laughing, and as he was walking away, one of the men from the table said, "I told you, fat b*tches are easy."

The unexpected text

Two days after the video went viral, on June 4, Lyon shared an update on her situation. She revealed that the last time she spoke to her friends was after she posted the video, when they confronted her. Lyon also spoke to the guy after he reached out to her and apologized for his behavior. Well, one of her friends went home with one of the guys from that group, and that's how her video reached him. Lyon explained, "He messaged me completely apologizing, saying it's not who he is, he had been drinking, it was an accident, and it was childish. He said he had a sister. He did ask me to get dinner, and I politely declined."

The acceptance

Other than that, Lyon focused on spreading a more positive message about self-love and body positivity. Moreover, Lyon confessed she has Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS), which makes her weight-loss journey a bit more challenging. She ended the video saying, "I love who I am. I believe that I am a beautiful person inside and out... I have also been brought up in a way by a man who lets me know that interactions like this have nothing to do with me, and more so with the other person." 

Obesity in America

Being overweight can have several health consequences, but people are also dealing with the mental toll of constant criticism. A report released on World Obesity Day 2018 by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 93.3 million American adults are obese (40%), while 7.7% are severely obese. The report also revealed that 52% of obese people experience fat-shaming all or most of the time, and 34% revealed that either they themselves experienced it or know someone who was fat-shamed. Similarly, 85% believe that fat-shaming is a serious problem. People did not see the effort Lyon had put into losing weight; instead, they saw someone who looked 'bigger' than her friends, and humiliated her. 

'Make new friends'

Meanwhile, netizens were furious about what happened to Lyon on her birthday. Several people in the comments told her to find new friends after they did not defend her at the bar. @austincnicole wrote, "I wish I was there by your side, girl, because holy h*ll I would’ve made a scene." @earth2dne added, "The way people treat plus-size people is sad. They don't understand we have feelings too, and we're human too. Not your type? Cool, but to go out of your way to be funny is nasty. I'm so sorry that happened to you."

You can follow Emma Lyon (@diaryofemmym) on TikTok for more lifestyle and health content.

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