From the archives: Kuli Roberts on being cyberbullied after her dramatic weight loss: "I have a hot body and I'm comfortable with it"

All she wanted to do was post a few pictures on her timeline. But as soon as the photos hit Twitter, dozens of users started cyberbullying and body shaming her.

But media personality Kuli Roberts isn’t bothered by the trolls who are telling her she’s too thin or looks sickly.

Some Twitter users have even gone as far as saying they wish they could “unsee” her pictures.

“They must do or say whatever they want to say. I have a hot body and I am comfortable in it. I do not rely on the validation of strangers to determine how I feel. If some Nonzwakazi from Facebook wants to body shame me then so be it.

“It is quite funny though, that the people who are talking about me being skinny are the same people who are wearing cycling shorts under their clothes because they are not comfortable about the way they look. The truth is everyone wants to be thin,” she says.

Kuli says people says people have always had something to say about her looks, it never bothered her then and it does not bother her now.

“Back in the 90s people used to tease me because I am darked skinned. Some even said I was so dark ingathi ndisuzelwe yi donkey ebusweni (as if a donkey had farted in my face). Then people said I come from a well-off family so why do I not bleach my skin and look like Mshoza and I said no. Now they want to talk about my weight, I do not care.

“The reality is that these are facts, I am skinny, so what? I am stressed by Covid and other things, but also, I like being skinny, I have never been a big person, so I do not know what the fuss is about now. This is the best I have ever looked."

Kuli says those who say she deserves to be bullied because of the days she used to write about other celebrities in her columns are crazy.

"It's madness to say people can bully me for doing my job. When I wrote about people I never lied. If I wrote about a divorce I did so because it was happening and so I won't argue with such people, they're crazy."

She says she is too busy fighting for underdogs to be focused on people cyberbullying her.

"I'm all about love. I'm fighting against the killing of people with albinism, I'm fighting for the rights of lesbians. So I am too busy to be fighting with keyboard bullies on the internet. If you want to talk about Kuli being thin then it's fine, as long as you are not being homophobic or killing those with albinism, then you can talk all you want until Jesus comes back," she says.