TVGuide.com Series Examines Weighty Issues

TVGuide.com is addressing the body images issue Hollywood-style.

Prompted by the controversy stemming from recent bikini photos depicting an “overweight” Ghost Whisperer star Jennifer Love Hewitt, the Web site launched a five-part series Dec. 31 at tvguide.com/bodytalk dealing with the topic as it relates to unrealistic and often dangerous standards set by Tinseltown’s taste- and fashion-makers.

In part one of the “Body Talk” series, TVGuide.com editors count down the top 10 celebrity beauty stories of 2007, topped by Britney Spears’s controversial performance at MTV’s 2007 Video Music Awards, which spawned an outpouring of criticism about her weight and a new online video star in Chris Crocker, whose manic rant "Leave Britney Alone!" became all the YouTube rage. Also in the debut installment,” TVGuide.com looks at the top 10 beauty stories surrounding specific TV shows and characters. 

The online content also goes straight to the source -- the stars themselves -- who weigh in on the pressures, expectations and fallout of the Hollywood beauty ideal. Some, like TV Guide Network host and Dancing with the Stars alum, Lisa Rinna, buy into Hollywood standards and work hard to consistently stay in tip-top shape.

Others like ex-supermodel Cindy Crawford express outrage at the backlash over the Hewitt’s bikini photos. “It was so mean, and there's no reason for it,” she said. “She wasn't on the beach saying, 'Hey, I think I look fantastic from any angle at any time, so take my picture.' She was just on the beach being herself.”

Running through Jan. 4, other "Body Talk" installments will take an in-depth view at the few celebrities willing to admit and talk openly about their plastic surgeries; present a salute to the older stars continuing to exude an air of youth and vitality; examine how actresses and actors deal with (sometimes work-dictated) weight losses and gains; and look at how celebrities ready and accouter themselves for red-carpet walks.