Country star Jessie James Decker is addressing the massive backlash she’s received since posting a photo of her children on vacation.
Images of her three kids, Vivianne, 8, Eric Jr., 7, and Forrest, 4, started circulating online, with fans commenting on how defined the kids’ abdominal muscles looked. Some followers accused Decker of using photo editing software to enhance the appearance of their abs while others believed the images were real and denigrated the singer for “overtraining” her children.
“I didn’t plan on addressing this because it’s bonkers but the photos are out there and every single news outlet has posted about this,” Decker captioned a video compilation shared to Instagram.
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“When I posted the pix of our vacation and included the kids being silly flexing on the beach on our thanksgiving trip I had NO clue it would get the reaction it did. But being accused of photoshopping abs on my kids (I can’t help but laugh) or … the polar opposite over ‘overtraining’ our kids makes me realize how bizarre our world has gotten regarding the body and what’s normal and what’s not.”
She continued by saying the kids have defined muscles from participating in sports, including gymnastics and football. Decker is married to retired NFL wide receiver Eric Decker.
“We preach about body positivity and acceptance but my kids having a mass amount of genetic and built muscle from athletics is ‘weird’? I want to raise my kids to feel proud of their bodies and hard work from either Vivis elite competitive gymnastics to Eric Jr wanting to be like dad as an NFL receiver to little Forrest who spends hours dancing his heart out,” the “My Cowboy” singer continued.
“Let’s not pick and choose what we normalize regarding bodies and be accepting of all people and children. If we wanna do ‘better’ then do better.”
The comments were full of support for Decker’s post, including a few messages from other celebrities.
“U get mama bear,” her husband Eric wrote.
“I’m sorry this even had to be addressed,” “Jersey Shore” star Jenni “JWoww” Farley agreed.
Jamie Lynn Spears commented, “Yes mam [sic]!!! Your kids won the genetic lottery!! Go team Decker.”
Candace Cameron Bure also dropped a note, responding to Decker’s explainer video with three clapping hands emojis.