Remi Bader, a TikToker known for promoting body positivity, has been at the center of a heated debate lately as she revealed that she had weight loss surgery in December 2023, leaving many of her fans feeling betrayed. The backlash is intense, with some accusing her of misleading them by suggesting her weight loss was due to diet and exercise alone.
In a candid conversation with Khloé Kardashian on her podcast Khloé in Wonder Land, Bader shared her journey with bariatric surgery. She had a single anastomosis duodenal-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy (SADI-S), which removed about 80 per cent of her stomach.
Bader described the recovery as “hell”.
“I was so sick … I [was] like, ‘Something’s wrong. I should’ve never done this. I literally ruined my body, like ruined everything,’” she told the reality star.
“I had a lot of regret.”
The reaction to the announcement has not been warm, as fans realised that Bader had been keeping her surgery a secret while promoting a natural weight loss narrative.
One user said, “She blocked SO many people who asked this in her comments for months,” and another noted, “The part that made people mad is she tried to make it seem like she worked out and ate right and then blocked anyone who called her out about it.”
Some fans have even accused her of “lying” and “gaslighting” them, with comments like, “Good job lying to the followers you built because you were ‘real’.”
An X user posted, “Remi Bader getting all of her following because she was a plus-size and body-positive content creator to only admit now she got weight loss surgery but was acting like she lost all her weight naturally… oh Remi.”
Bader has been open about trying other weight loss methods before surgery, including Ozempic, which didn’t work for her. She also attended intensive binge-eating programs and Overeaters Anonymous meetings.
“I always said if I was uncomfortable in my body or struggling. I was very open that I was struggling, but I was this person that was like, ‘But be confident in whatever you look like,’” Bader told Khloe.
“And I still do believe that … if you are in a bigger body, you could be happy. You could be healthy.”
Although some fans feel betrayed, others have defended her right to privacy. As one supporter pointed out, “It’s a personal choice to share intimate details,” and “She didn’t even have to tell anyone. She owes [her] followers nothing”.
In an interview with Self magazine, Bader reflected on her journey stating, “I never wanted to be this size… I’m probably the only person that’s ever gone to a doctor for weight loss to be like, ‘Okay, but can I still be curvy?’”
She explained: “It’s really confusing to be so quickly in a different body but have the exact same brain.”
She also shared that the recovery was “brutal,” involving weeks of vomiting and a “deep depression”. Bader confessed, “I’d gotten into a very, very deep depression, and it was truly the scariest time of my life.
“I couldn’t tell people. I really — I wanted to die.”
You can watch Khloe’s full interview with Remi here:
Lead image: Instagram / TikTok
