Katia Follesa responds to weight-loss comments and reveals her mother died a month ago

The posts that started it

Katia Follesa, the comic actress and presenter who is 50, posted photographs on Instagram on Thursday 8 October showing her with Giacomo Poretti, a member of the comedy trio Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo. The pictures were taken in the corridors of the Teatro Oscar in Milan, where the two appeared on Wednesday 7 October during the 'Fools - Il festival del giullare' festival. Nothing in the images was out of the ordinary, but users quickly turned their attention to how much weight she had lost. Some praised her figure, while others asked what had caused the change. One comment that circulated widely read "Katia... anche tu Ozempic?", which translates as "Katia... you too, Ozempic?". Some followers speculated that she had used Ozempic, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes that has become part of the public debate over weight loss.

Follesa's reply

Follesa responded in a series of Instagram stories, publishing screenshots of the comments without hiding the users' names. She then wrote a few lines on a black background, opening with the revelation that she had lost her mother. Tgcom24 described it as the first time she had made the death public, since she had kept the bereavement away from the spotlight. In the opening line of her reply, she wrote:

I'd like to see your faces. I lost my mum, just a month ago.

She went on to promise that once she had got over the grief she would put back on every kilo she had lost, so that her critics could sleep peacefully.

I promise that as soon as I get over the grief I will put back on every kilo I have lost, so you can sleep peacefully. I care a lot about your well-being.

Her final message turned to sarcasm about the injections that commenters had mentioned, and she ended the stories with the words "That's all".

I also want to let you know that if I gain too much weight, I will take the 'punturine' too. That's all.

Support and criticism online

The post drew a large number of supportive replies, according to Open. One follower asked why a person must always account to someone for changes in their physical appearance. Another wrote that it is sad that everything is based on a person's physique, since it is never acceptable, whether someone is too thin or too heavy. Not all reaction was sympathetic. Some commenters complained about excessive political correctness after a fan wrote that Follesa was beautiful, and one woman said she had been insulted for writing that Follesa was very thin, meaning that she looked well. Tgcom24 separately published a gallery of Follesa's recent posts, including celebrations of her 50th birthday, make-up-free selfies taken after waking up, and a photo taken in a supermarket.

A wider debate on women's bodies

Fanpage linked the episode to a press conference for Zustissia, a film by Francesco Piras about the case of Beniamino Zuncheddu, a Sardinian shepherd acquitted after about 33 years in prison. At that conference, the actress Geppi Cucciari was asked whether actresses can 'expire' as they age. Fanpage's commentary said Cucciari then asked why men are not asked the same questions, and that the journalist answered that women are the ones who suffer from these stereotypes. The column argued that such questions take up too much space in public discussion, and that their repetition keeps the same stereotypes in view.

Where things stand

Follesa's own Instagram stories are the only statement from her in the articles reviewed, and they ended with the words that closed her reply. The comments under her post ranged from sympathy about her grief to criticism of the focus on her weight. The episode came about a month after her mother's death, which Follesa had kept private until she addressed the online remarks.