Model breaks down in tears over being told she is ‘not waify enough’ in viral TikTok video

A model who used to suffer from an eating disorder has shared her heartbreak over being asked to lose weight for a shoot because she’s ‘not waify enough’ after she went from a size 0/2 to a size 4/6 over the past five years. 

Anna Gantt, 22, from New York City, burst into tears as she slammed the fashion industry’s impossible standards in her viral TikTok video, saying she gained 35 pounds since she started modeling at age 15 and is finally healthy. 

‘These are the days that I f**king hate being a model,’ she cried. ‘Because I’m never good enough and I have been modeling since 2014 and I started out as a size 0/2, doing editorial and runway and now I’m a size 4/6 and I’m s**t on every day because I’m not a skeleton and I’m not unhealthy anymore.’

 

Hard to handle: Anna Gantt, 22, from New York City, burst into tears as she criticized the fashion industry’s impossible standards in her viral TikTok video

Heartbreaking: Gantt said she had just returned from a casting where the producer and casting director asked her to lose weight

Heartbreaking: Gantt said she had just returned from a casting where the producer and casting director asked her to lose weight

Heartbreaking: Gantt said she had just returned from a casting where the producer and casting director asked her to lose weight 

Changes: The tearful model explained she was a size 0/2 when she first started modeling as a teenager in 2014 and is now a healthy size 4/6

Changes: The tearful model explained she was a size 0/2 when she first started modeling as a teenager in 2014 and is now a healthy size 4/6

Gantt, who is represented by A.I. Model Management, explained that she had just returned from a casting and her ‘feelings were hurt by the producer and the casting director’ who asked her to lose weight.   

‘I see on TikTok everybody wants to be in fashion, everybody wants to model,’ she said while lifting the lid on the dark side of the industry. 

‘I’m 5’10”, I’m healthy, I suffered with an eating disorder for years, and I finally feel confident at my size,’ she shared. ‘I’ve gained 35 pounds in the past five years. Really. And I look great. I’m still thin.

‘Living in this city will make you feel like s**t about yourself, and it will make you feel like you are not enough and it will make you feel like you have to live some unhealthy lifestyle to make it.

‘F**k, it, f**k modeling, f**k fashion, f**k the industry.’

Frustrating: 'I am literally thin! I'm literally small!' she yelled. 'And I am not good enough. I am too big. My stomach, what is wrong with it?'

Frustrating: ‘I am literally thin! I’m literally small!’ she yelled. ‘And I am not good enough. I am too big. My stomach, what is wrong with it?’ 

Over it: 'F**k, it, f**k modeling, f**k fashion, f**k the industry,' she said, giving the middle finger to the camera

Over it: ‘F**k, it, f**k modeling, f**k fashion, f**k the industry,’ she said, giving the middle finger to the camera 

Gantt, who works in the jewelry industry full time, went on to share her frustration over the impossible size standards, pointing out that most models aren’t naturally that thin.  

‘I am too small for plus-size. I am too big for whatever the f**k standard size 0/2 is,’ she said. ‘I’m telling you, after modeling in this industry since 2014, I’m 22 years old. That was like seven years ago that I started modeling. I was very young. 

‘And I’m telling you out of all the models I have met and worked with on set, it is very rare that being that small is natural. And I don’t wish that that size were the standard because those girls who are naturally that thin, good for them, but I’m tired of casting directors making me and girls who are naturally curvy… like I lost my period.’

Gantt then stood up to show the camera her body, yelling: ‘I am literally thin! I’m literally small! And I am not good enough. I am too big. 

‘My stomach, what is wrong with it?’ she asked. ‘They said, “You’re not waify enough. We want to see your bones.” The shoot is in early December. You can lose some weight’.

Looking back: Gantt (pictured in 2016) started modeling in 2014 when she was 15 years old

Looking back: Gantt (pictured in 2016) started modeling in 2014 when she was 15 years old

Feeling good: Gantt said she used to suffer from an eating disorder and is finally healthy after gaining 35 pounds. She is pictured in 2016

Feeling good: Gantt said she used to suffer from an eating disorder and is finally healthy after gaining 35 pounds. She is pictured in 2021

Feeling good: Gantt said she used to suffer from an eating disorder and is finally healthy after gaining 35 pounds. She is pictured in 2016 (left) and 2021 (right)

Unhealthy: The model (pictured in 2015) said her eating disorder was so bad that she lost her period

Unhealthy: The model (pictured in 2015) said her eating disorder was so bad that she lost her period 

‘It’s f**king 2021 and they are telling me to lose weight for a shoot that is going to release in Barcelona.

‘I’m just f**king done.’

Gantt’s video has been viewed more than 9.2 million times and has received over 30,000 comments in just one day. Many people, including fellow models, shared their support for Gantt.  

‘Eff them. You’re stunning. The industry needs to change, not you,’ wrote plus-size model Tess Holliday. 

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) added: ‘This is heartbreaking. You are beautiful.’ 

Terrible: Gantt stressed that she is 'still thin' and 'literally small,' but she is constantly being told she is 'not good enough' and is 'too big.' She is pictured in 2015

Terrible: Gantt stressed that she is 'still thin' and 'literally small,' but she is constantly being told she is 'not good enough' and is 'too big.' She is pictured in 2021

Terrible: Gantt stressed that she is ‘still thin’ and ‘literally small,’ but she is constantly being told she is ‘not good enough’ and is ‘too big.’ She is pictured in 2015 (left) and 2021 (right)

Going viral: Gantt's video has been viewed more than 9.2 million times and has received over 30,000 comments in just one day, with many people sharing their support for her

Going viral: Gantt’s video has been viewed more than 9.2 million times and has received over 30,000 comments in just one day, with many people sharing their support for her 

‘You are beautiful just as you are. You deserve more. There is a world out there that wants you to be yourself,’ YouTuber Natalia Taylor agreed. 

There were plenty of people who could relate, including model Abbie Herbert. 

‘LITERALLY HAPPENED TO ME!’ she commented. ‘I love you girl. That client doesn’t deserve you!’

Gantt also suffers from trichotillomania, a disorder that involves irresistible urges to pull out body hair, and her latest video caught the attention of DIY eyelash extensions company Lashify. 

‘We would love to book you,’ the brand commented. 

‘I absolutely would love that,’ she responded. ‘I’m very grateful.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk