Sasha Pieterse Responds to Social Media Criticism of Her Weight: “Love Yourself”

Sasha Pieterse, Alison on PLL, has posted another open letter regarding criticism of her weight. (Check out the first letter where Sasha addressed her hormone imbalance about a year ago).

Credit: Disney/ABC Television Group, Creative Commons

Sasha Pieterse has been getting a lot of judgment regarding her weight. Sasha has had to develop a thick skin to protect her heart and soul from all the negativity and criticism.

Sasha explained that she always struggled with her weight and focused on her health in her early teens. However, she faced major social media backlash when her body changed.

“People were actually angry that I had gained weight, I was being (and still am) called names, made fun of, the (unfortunate) usual but it wasn’t until people starting asking and assuming I was pregnant that I decided to say something” Sasha wrote. At that point, Sasha decided to post her first message about her hormone imbalance.

Unfortunately, that post made people talk about her weight even more. “Not that I was surprised, but it disturbed me that so many females were so quick to tear me down on a subject that we all struggle with” Sasha wrote.

Sasha encouraged people to focus on love. “We’ve all heard our parents tell us to treat people the way you want to be treated, but I think often we don’t treat ourselves the way we should be treated. I decided at that point to love myself the way I am right now” Sasha said.

Sasha finished the letter with this advice and a plea to “love yourself”. “NO long term happiness comes from instant gratification. Do not lower yourself to people who refuse to grow higher. If you don’t love yourself you’ll continue to chase people who don’t love you either. Eat like you love yourself. Move like you love yourself. Speak like you love yourself. Act like you love yourself. Love yourself” Sasha wrote.

Check out Sasha Pieterse’s full letter below:

A photo posted by Sasha Pieterse (@sashapieterse27) on Jul 14, 2016 at 10:59am PDT

Sasha Pieterse is clearly a beautiful person both inside and out. She is an amazing actress on PLL and she is spreading positivity with her statement about love and accepting yourself and your body. Sasha has had to deal with a lot of unkindness on social media, but she chose to address it with positivity and self-acceptance.

Ashley Benson (Hanna on PLL) has also spoken up about criticism regarding her weight. Ashley was told that she was “too fat” for a role. And both Troian Bellisario (Spencer on PLL) and Lucy Hale (Aria on PLL) have discussed their struggling with eating disorders when they were younger.