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BRITAIN - Actress Kate Winslet, an outspoken critic of Hollywood's "size zero" obsession, has won a public apology and libel damages from a magazine which wrongly reported that she had visited a diet doctor.
Grazia, a women's glossy, had reported that Winslet discussed diet treatments at the Chinese Healing Institute in California. Rachel Atkins, the actress' lawyer, told the High Court Winslet did receive treatment from the clinic, but for a neck injury, not for weight loss.
Winslet, 31, said the article suggested "she had lied to the public when she had said she refused to bow to pressure to be skinny".
In a statement released after winning the case on Friday, Winslet said: "Grazia magazine have apologised to me in full and admitted their story was incorrect, which gives me tremendous peace of mind.
"I feel very strongly that 'curves' are natural, womanly and real. I shall continue to hope that women are able to believe in themselves for who they are inside and not feel under such incredible pressure to be unnaturally thin.
"I have always been, and shall continue to be, honest when it comes to body/weight issues. I don't want people to think I was a hypocrite and had suddenly gone and lost 30 pounds, which is something I would never do, and more importantly don't want to look like that.
"I shall continue to hope that women are able to believe in themselves for who they are inside, and not feel under such incredible pressure to be unnaturally thin."
She said she hoped her success would show girls they did not need to be thin to find happiness.
In 2003, the actress spoke out when she found her own image airbrushed into a taller, slimmer version on the cover of GQ magazine.
And last year, she said she was so concerned by the effect magazine images may have on her daughter Mia that she refused to have them in the house. Winslet intends to donate the "substantial" settlement to an eating disorder charity.
- INDEPENDENT
