David Foster faces backlash after he says wife Katharine McPhee was ‘fat' on ‘American Idol'
The music legend angered fans with remarks he made about his wife's body in a resurfaced 2023 video.
David Foster has come under fire for saying his wife, Katharine McPhee, was "fat" during her time on "American Idol."
After a video of the couple performing in 2023 resurfaced on TikTok, fans are calling out Foster for remarks he made about his wife's body while onstage.
@maniaph At the #DavidFosterAndFriends concert at The Theatre at Solaire, #DavidFoster and #KatharineMcPhee share how they met. #EntertainmentPH
♬ original sound - Mania PH - Mania PH
“You may not know we met 17, almost 18 years ago when I was a little chubby and cheerful contestant on ‘American Idol,’” McPhee, 40, tells the crowd in the video.
McPhee then gestures to a screen behind them showing a photo of her and the legendary music producer during Season Five of “Idol” in 2006.
“Oh yeah, you were fat,” blurts out Foster, 74, who appeared as a mentor on the show that season.
McPhee then makes light of her husband’s remark. “I was a little chubby, OK? I was just young,” she tells him.
TODAY.com has reached out to Foster and McPhee for comment.
Foster’s remark sparked a backlash among social media users who blasted him in the video's comments.
“Yikes what is wrong with him?” one asked.
“WOW this is not endearing, cute or sweet ... it’s sad,” wrote someone else.
Many said Foster’s remark about McPhee's body was especially troubling in light of her past struggle with bulimia.
“She has a ED and that is what the F he says,” wrote one.
“Not okay at all. Wowowoowow,” added another.
In June 2006, shortly after being crowned the runner-up on "Idol," McPhee opened up to People magazine about her five-year struggle with bulimia.
The singer said she was caught in a cycle of bingeing and purging and only sought treatment after she auditioned for “Idol.”
McPhee and Foster first sparked dating rumors in 2017. The pair got engaged in 2018 and tied the knot in 2019.
In 2021, McPhee revealed on on Dr. Berlin’s "Informed Pregnancy" podcast that she worried she would relapse with her eating disorder while she was pregnant with the couple’s now 3-year-old son, Rennie.
The singer's first trimester was the hardest, she explained, because she became "obsessed" with food while also dealing with difficult feelings about her changing body. "I had such a distortion of the way that I looked," she recalled.
McPhee ended up talking to a psychiatrist who let her know her feelings were common among pregnant women who have previously struggled with eating disorders.
“It made me feel so much better that I wasn’t alone in that headspace," she said on the podcast.
“I think if you have issues with food it’s always something that there are phases when it comes back into your life and it haunts you and then you get a hold of it again," she added.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY: