Why you gotta be so mean? Keitra Jane was ecstatic to be considered one of Taylor Swift’s many doppelgängers — until she was bullied for it. Now the singer’s look-alike is fighting back, after she was called the “fatter Taylor Swift” online.
Jane, 21, says people started making fun of her after she starred in Alex Boye’s music video for the song “African Hipster.” She says critics would leave hateful messages in the comments section under her Instagram photos.
“My friends kept sending me photos of these comments that would say just inappropriate things like ‘Taylor with a bigger rack/boobs.’ One comment caught my eye. It said ‘a fatter Taylor Swift,'” Jane told Seventeen magazine. “I’ve always been taller than most of my peers, but being called fat just hurt.”
Jane — who suffered from an eating disorder in high school — didn’t just sit back and let the haters win, though. She reposted the overweight comment and wrote a powerful message to her critics.
“Internet bullying contributes to disordered eating. People need to understand that nothing on the internet goes unnoticed, and when you publicize your comments or suggestions you aren’t just writing on a wall, you’re writing to a real person,” Jane wrote on January 7.
“This is just one of millions of hurtful comments that are given to REAL people every day. This isn’t a sympathy post, this is information,” she continued. “You need to know that words have power to do harm or promote positivity. Use your power for good! #NEDA @centerforchange #nedaawareness #loveyourbody #healthybodyhealthylife.”
Jane continues to get mistaken for 26-year-old Swift, but she’s always game for a photo op — especially at Disney World! She just hopes that people will be a little more considerate, and that everyone love the skin they’re in.
“[I want everybody to] understand that happiness doesn’t come from living up to other people’s expectations; it comes from fulfilling the role you see yourself in and allowing yourself to be true to your own identity,” she told Seventeen.
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She quoted Swift: “Be yourself — there is no one better.”