Camila Cabello says she felt 'super vulnerable and unprepared' after being photographed in a bikini by paparazzi
Camila Cabello posted the lengthy Instagram post on Saturday after paparazzi photographed her in Miami, Florida.
Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images
- Camila Cabello penned a Saturday Instagram post that discussed body image and insecurities.
- Cabello wrote she "didn't breathe" due to the paparazzi despite wanting to relax at the beach.
- Cabello, 25, has previously spoken about mental health and body positivity.
Camila Cabello got candid about her body insecurities after the paparazzi snapped photos of her while wearing a bikini.
The "Havana" singer shared a lengthy Instagram post on Saturday after spending time at an undisclosed beach in Miami, Florida. That same day outlets including Just Jared Jr. and Mail Online published paparazzi photos of Cabello, 25, wearing a yellow and black bikini.
Cabello explained in the post that she's often photographed by paparazzi when she visits that particular beach.
"Somehow when I check in paps know and get me in my bikini and every time I've felt super vulnerable and unprepared," Cabello wrote. "I've worn bikinis that were to small and paid no mind to how I looked, then saw pictures online and comments and been so upset."
Cabello continued that seeing such comments and photos affected her self-esteem, but she reminded herself that she was "thinking the culture's thoughts and not my own."
"A culture who has gotten so used to an image of what a 'healthy' woman's body looks like that is completely not real for a lot of women," she wrote, adding that things like Photoshop, overexercising, and restrictive eating make people's body look different when compared to their natural form.
"I remind myself of this, listen to podcasts on intuitive eating, follow women who accept their cellulite, stretch marks, bellies, bloating, and weight fluctuations.. and still," Cabello wrote. "I'm a single woman in her 20s in the middle of a shit ton of promo and I want to feel like I look 'good.'"
Cabello then wrote that she bought a new bikini and outfit, wore lipgloss, and "didn't eat anything too heavy" before visiting the beach because she knew paparazzi would be there.
"I held my core so tight my abs hurt and didn't breathe and barely smiled and was so self conscious of where the paps we're the whole time I couldn't let go and relax and do what we're meant to do when we go out into nature," Cabello wrote. She added that she tried to ignore the paparazzi to no avail.
Cabello said she knew that she "looked good" in the photos and initially thought she'd feel a sense of accomplishment from it, but she "never had a worse time at the beach."
"I felt the emptiness and sadness of our culture's thoughts that became my thoughts," she wrote.
She added: "I wanted to talk about this because we see pictures of women and praise them for looking good, for looking fit or 'healthy,' but what is health if you are so fixated on what your body looks like that your mental health suffers and you can't enjoy your life?
Cabello finished the post by saying she's not at a point in her life where hateful comments don't affect her.
"Intellectually, I know what I look like doesn't determine how healthy, happy, or sexy I am. Emotionally, the messaging i get from our world is loud in my own head. Ironically, all the therapy, all the inner work is to try and get back to feeling like 7 year old me on the beach. I'm mourning her today. Happy, silly, breathing, pretending to be a mermaid, FREE," she wrote.
Representatives for Cabello did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In July 2021, Cabello posted a viral TikTok during which she embraced her "cellulite and stretch marks and fat."