When it comes to working with brands, those in the diet industry are off the table for Jameela Jamil.
While speaking at Cannes Lions, the actress and podcaster said she’s willing to work with any brand “as long as they’re not in the diet industry – in that case, please do not approach.
“I’m not interested in yet another project that is going to restrict a woman’s freedom in how she feels and make her feel bad about herself. I want her to build her mental health,” she elaborated.
“The brands I’m interested in working with are those that help women sleep better, or move faster, or technology that get mostly advertised on men’s podcasts. Food – give us food,” Jamil, 37, continued. “I want to remind women to eat, I don’t want to sell diet products that tell women to stop eating. I don’t want to be yet another reminder that women need to restrict and show their discipline via what their bodies look like.”
The British star noted that “progress has to be incremental.
“If you haven’t been progressive throughout the entire history of your brand, that’s okay,” she added.
Even if a non-diet brand is “problematic,” Jamil is willing to collaborate, as long as she “could meaningfully talk about” it.
The “She-Hulk” actress is aiming to expand what she calls “a fitness movement” via her podcast “I Weigh” — a safe space for mental health and social justice — and Instagram account. The movement will focus on “growing mental health in a way that feels accessible.
“When we built ‘I Weigh’, we wanted our tag line to be that we want to make women feel smarter and happier, not thinner and younger,” the writer and activist said of her podcast, which she launched in April 2020.
“We are encouraging people to move, not for their abs, but only for the mental health benefits. We’re trying to break exercise culture as it is, because it’s very punitive,” she said of her ideas for a “Move for Your Mind” movement. “No pain, no gain – what the f**k is that? We want to bring joy and hope. I want to move my body in a way that is just good for my brain, just for me, not for anybody else.”
Elsewhere during the film festival, the “Good Place” star shared how social media motivated her to launch “I Weigh”.
“I opened Instagram and it sent me pictures of famous women with numbers written across their body. It was their weight. Once I’d clicked on one, I was bombarded,” she recalled. “I wrote, ‘I weigh my relationships, my friendships, my orgasms, my contributions to society, all the mistakes I’ve made and learned from, I weigh the sum of my parts, I weigh what I’m going to remember on my death bed and hopefully that’s not going to be what I weighed.’
READ MORE: Jameela Jamil Responds To Criticism Of Her ‘She-Hulk’ Look
“It led to a viral movement that lasted for three years, people sending in what they weigh under my metric, so I turned it into a podcast.
Jamil credits her podcast’s success to being a “safe and welcoming” space.
“It’s so much easier to be authentic, without camera, lighting, makeup. You get a sense of someone’s reality,” she said. “You’re in an intimate relationship with your listener. This podcast is by far the best part of my 15-year career.”
