Six in the Six: Nicole Arbour, creator of “Dear Fat People”
Nicole Arbour’s controversial fat-shaming screed, "Dear Fat People,” has made her the most hated woman on YouTube even as the video continues to rack up views—over six million, at last count. She’s not apologizing for anything. Here, the Raptors-dancer-turned-internet-auteur defends her a-hole screen presence and explains why everyone just needs to relax.
You’re a thin, attractive former Raptors dancer. Do you see how a video in which you condemn and criticize fat people has made people angry? Of course I do. I think we have all become way too sensitive. I’m sorry to everyone that has ever told a blond joke before, but now it’s coming back at you. In the videos I’m playing my “rant character,” which is basically my version of every funny, a-hole guy in movies where I would be cast as the girl standing beside him, who is probably a waitress and probably has to be topless at some point, because that’s what happens to girls in movies. I’m being that guy.
So is it That Guy who doesn’t believe that fat shaming is a real thing, or is it Nicole? Me as me believes wholeheartedly that everything needs to be made fun of equally. Donald Trump might be president soon, Kanye and Taylor are new best friends. The end of the world is coming and we all just need to relax.
It just seems like public figures make more reasonable targets than an entire group of people who are so frequently and ignorantly disparaged. Everyone feels pain and has insecurities. Life isn’t easy for anyone. I was disabled for five years after a serious car accident. I was in bed and was told I might never walk again. Someone like me has experienced real pain. I think we need to be able to shake words off and realize that words are not real pain. Words shouldn’t hurt, and I think that’s an issue.
Do you have any overweight friends? If so, are they pretty p.o.-ed at you? None of my friends are mad, and I have friends of every shape and size. They laugh because they can’t believe that people don’t understand that it’s an act, that it’s a character.
Do you, Nicole, think that character is an a-hole? Oh my god—yes. One hundred percent. I love movies with Vince Vaughan, I love Loius C.K, I love Ricky Gervais. That comedy zone that is just about letting my a-hole flag fly. That’s not how I act in real life.
Those are some pretty legendary comic icons. What about critics who say the problem with the “Dear Fat People” video is that it’s simply not funny? That’s subjective. If somebody doesn’t find me funny, I don’t find them relevant. I don’t listen to the haters. I have a lot of fans and I do it for them.
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Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
