Not all compliments come from a nice place, although often backhanded compliments are purely accidental, while others are given with the intention of adding a little sting to the person receiving it. These 5 celebrities have opened up on receiving a compliment that wasn’t completely pleasant – such as ones relate to their age, weight, smartness or something else.
Carrie Underwood
Carrie was surprised by what people said when she turned 30: “It’s just been absolutely amazing to me how many people have been like, ‘Oh happy 30th birthday. Oh yeah, 30, but you look great’. Was I, like, supposed to start falling apart? Like, transformation into old lady-hood was supposed to be complete by 30? I’m not sure what that means!”
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer hates being told she looks good for her age: “I hate when people tell me ‘For your age, you look great.’ I can’t stand that.”
Julianna Margulies
Julianna felt receiving a script after other actresses was a backhanded compliment: “When The Good Wife came to me, it came in such a backhanded compliment: ‘Ashley Judd was offered this script, but she’s turning it down. Now, I’m going to give it to you, but first, we’re going to Helen Hunt. And if Helen Hunt passes, it’s all yours.’ I wanted to hate it, because you know, ‘F**k you! You didn’t want me to begin with…’ But my agent said a great thing: ‘No one will know when they watch this show that Helen Hunt was offered it before you.'”
Mindy Kaling
Mindy is always given compliments about her body that she doesn’t particularly appreciate: “I’m the recipient of a lot of backhanded compliments about it, where people are like, ‘It’s so nice that Mindy Kaling doesn’t feel she needs to subscribe to the ideals of beauty that other people do.’ And I’m like, ‘I do subscribe!’ They’re like, ‘It’s so refreshing that Mindy feels comfortable to let herself go and be a fat sea monster.’ By the way, I like run and work out. It takes a lot of effort to look like a normal/chubby woman. The way they talk about it, [it’s] like, ‘She’s a pioneer because she’s glued to her sofa.’”
Nicki Minaj
Nicki was told she seems smarter on tv: “Once I did American Idol, a lot of people would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, you’re smarter than I thought…What does that mean?! Was I making weird faces [that made you think] I was stupid? Thank God I did that show. At least I was able to show my true self, speak and have a mind.”
