World enews: Love Is Blind star Micah asks fans not to comment on her appearance

Love Is Blind season four star Micah Lussier has issued a statement asking that social media critics stop making comments about physical appearances.

On her Instagram on Thursday, Lussier shared a photo of herself standing on a balcony, with the reality star seen wearing a grey dress and holding a mug in her hand. She took to the caption to send a message to her fans about some of the negative comments they’ve been leaving on her posts.

“Hi guys! I want to acknowledge that while there has been a lot of love and support, there has also been a lot of negativity on social media the last few weeks,” she wrote. “And I feel I have to say this.. please, just leave looks out of it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I want everyone to have a free space to speak their mind, but, a line has been crossed – and I am not the one suffering.”

She went on to explain that she’s gotten “heartbreaking messages” from people who have been “negatively affected” by the comments on her posts. The marketing manager acknowledged that, while she’s used to facing public scrutiny, others aren’t, before explaining how the remarks can hurt people.

“While I may have willingly thrown myself into the public eye, and can take the backlash – other people have not made that choice,” Lussier continued. “The impact of your words can be hurtful, especially to those who feel like they don’t fit in societies’ narrow definition of beauty. You may be talking to me, or other commenters, but you could easily be damaging an innocent person’s self esteem.”

Lussier then appeared to make a reference to fans calling her “a mean girl” on Love Is Blind, as she added: “Don’t sink down to the level that you believe me to be at. You don’t know who you may be hurting. You don’t know who’s reading those words.”

The reality star concluded her post by applauding everyone’s “differences”.

“Remember that opinions of other people don’t define who you are. You’re beautiful. Let’s celebrate our differences. They are what make us who we are,” she wrote.

In the comments of her post, many of Lussier’s followers praised her message, and shared their hopes for people to stop comming on others’ looks.

“Can women from now on just support one another? Making someone feel good takes less effort than bringing someone down and guess what? It makes you feel good too!” one person wrote.

“I totally get it. No one’s looks, weight, etc should come into any of this. Now who they are as a person, ya that’s another thing,” another comment reads.

In this season of Love Is Blind, Lussier got engaged to contestant Paul Peden, before ever meeting in person. However, once they made their way to the altar, Peden said “I don’t” to Lussier. In the reunion special, the pair revealed that, although they got back together briefly after their wedding, the relationship didn’t last long.

When the season first aired, Lussier and her co-star, Irina Solomonova, were also the subject of widespread backlash after fans claimed they acted like “mean girls” to their co-stars”. Amid the criticism, Lussier issued a public apology for her behaviour on the show on her Instagram.

“I have apologised privately to the people that were hurt on the show by my hands. I would like to apologise publicly,” she began the statement last month. “An emotional immaturity was shown and I will grow from it.”

“To the viewers I’ve hurt, I’m sorry I’ve triggered so many of you with my behaviour. See that person on the screen would make me feel the same anger,” she continued.

Lussier’s message comes after Ariana Grande responded to fans’ concerns regarding her appearance in a TikTok earlier this month, in which she also encouraged fans to stop making comments about her appearance and those of others.

“I think we could be, I think we should be, gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what,” she said. “If you think you’re saying something good or well-intentioned, whatever it is – healthy, unhealthy, big, small, this, that, sexy, not sexy – we just shouldn’t. We should really work towards not doing that as much.”