In a relatable moment, Sanaa Lathan blames her curvy physique on her love of food, vowing to keep enjoying her life regardless of public scrutiny.
Lathan, who stars in the upcoming Fox drama “Shots Fired,” addressed rumors of pregnancy ahead of the series’ Wednesday, March 22, premiere.
“That was just a meal,” the 44-year-old Lathan told “The Breakfast Club” to rapturous laughter, Monday, March 13. “I’m not a skinny girl, never have been a skinny girl. I like to eat. And I’m not going to starve myself. I’m going to live my life. Sometimes, they get a bad angle and the blogs are the blogs. People, they like a story for a minute.”
Lathan, who has no children, considered excuses for how to shut down pregnancy rumors, like the newest one that cropped up last year when she was said to be dating rapper French Montana. She finally settled on building up a thick skin and laughing off criticism.
“The thing is, being in this business is such a blessing, but all y’all gotta know that it is no joke,” she said. “The business is hard because all eyes are on you. Everybody’s a critic. As a woman, now it’s like on-duty, off-duty, every picture in the age of social media. So you have to develop a steel exterior. You have to get to the point where you just laugh about s— and it just rolls off of you.”
Even though gender is at the root of the questions about Lathan’s figure, the 20-year-acting veteran said race plays a bigger role in her career than gender. Lathan said she would like to think it’s getting better, but improvements still need to be made.
“Oscars, yes, there were a lot of [Black actors] at the Oscars and, yet, it still — if you look at the movies that are coming out — that still doesn’t reflect the melting pot of this world that we live in,” she said. “I want Hollywood to reflect the world that we’re living in. TV is definitely getting better. I can name three Black actresses that were working [when I was coming up in the industry] and now I don’t even know all of them.”
