7 Stars Who Were Bullied as Children

Justin Timberlake called a 'sissy,' Kate Middleton was 'meek'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 4, 2014 9:12 AM CDT
7 Stars Who Were Bullied as Children
Jennifer Lawrence arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

They're now the coolest kids in school, but the dozen celebrities rounded up by The Stir were bullied when they were younger. A sampling:

  • Justin Timberlake: "I got picked on all the time. I had terrible acne, weird hair," he has said. "I grew up in Tennessee, and if you didn't play football, you were a sissy. I got slurs all the time because I was in music and art."
  • Kate Middleton: Rumor has it she was the target of mean girls back in her school days; they reportedly tormented her for being "skinny" and "meek" and ultimately drove her to a different school.
  • Jennifer Lawrence: She also struggled with mean girls, and says that in middle school, "this one girl gave me invitations to hand out to her birthday party that I wasn't invited to."

  • Tyra Banks: "When I was 11 years old, I grew three inches and lost 30 pounds in three months. So I went from being a ... cute little chubby little girl to shooting up, [weighing] 98 pounds, and just looking sick and frail," she has said. "I was the brunt of every joke, every bad thing."
  • Sandra Bullock: She had a tough time in junior high thanks to her lisp and the fact that she'd just moved back to the states from Europe: "I was very, er, Germanic, so you could say," she once said.
  • Jackie Chan: "I allowed myself to be bullied because I was scared and didn’t know how to defend myself," he once explained. "I was bullied until I prevented a new student from being bullied. By standing up for him, I learned to stand up for myself."
  • Rihanna: Growing up in Barbados, she was teased for her fair skin. People called her "white," she once said, adding, "They would look at me and would curse me out. I didn’t understand."
Click for the complete list, including one gorgeous celeb whose nickname was "Blubber." (Read more Justin Timberlake stories.)

We use cookies. By Clicking "OK" or any content on this site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. Read more in our privacy policy.
Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X