Queen Latifah is not shy about her size. As a young girl, Letifah admits she felt “akward” about her buxom build, but over the years, “I grew into my looks,” she says. In 2003, Letifah had a breast reduction surgery because she was suffering from years of shoulder and back pain.
The 5’10” Latifah weighs “in the 2’s” and is very happy with herself and life in general. Here is an excerpt from her recent interview in which she discusses her breast reduction surgery and how she is dealing with not being stick-thin.
You just finished filming Mad Money in Shreveport, La., with Katie Holmes, who always brought cupcakes and treats to the set. How did you manage to maintain your figure? I don’t know! I’m not really a big sweets person. I’m more a meal eater. [Katie] is really cool. She shipped some Gino’s East pizza down from Chicago. That was the bomb. That put a hurtin’ on. I just kept working out. They had a little gym I would go to and I would walk the track behind a high school.
No sweets? What do you snack on? I like Pirate’s Booty. Prunes and olives too. I love hummus. I can eat that until I die. I tend to eat mostly organic food.
How do you feel about always being labeled the curvy, big, beautiful girl? It’s good for regular girls because the meter [for beauty] has been a slim white girl. Beauty is not just a white girl. It’s so many different flavors and shades. [In Hollywood] we’ve definitely gotten better with body type. It used to be just me! Now with Jennifer Hudson’s success and America Ferrera, I got some successors to take the reins on this whole bodylicious thing.
You rolled your eyes at the word “curvy.” How would you describe yourself? Normal! I think I’m normal compared to the statistics. This is a big country nowadays. I would say I’m voluptuous. Statuesque. Definitely curvaceous.
What did you think of your body as a little girl growing up in Newark? My body grew before I was ready for it – especially when you hadn’t quite figured out really how to rock these things, [gestures to her chest] I was an athlete, playing basketball, and I didn’t have the right bra. I was bouncing all over the place. I had to run down the court like this, [holds her arms tight against her sides] It was tough. One of my friends called them “McCongas.” You feel awkward, but eventually I grew to love what I had.
So why the breast-reduction surgery in 2003? It took me about a year and half to really do it. I didn’t want to get it. But I had lost 25 lbs. and my breasts didn’t go anywhere! I was still carrying that load. I didn’t quite want them to be this small, I was a little p—–about that.
What were you before? An E or an F cup. I was pretty big. Now I’m like a DD. I wanted to be a triple. They took one D too many! So that was hard to deal with. And there’s scarring and stitches. It was painful. I missed my old look. I went through a little depression after surgery. I even got a weak prescription for antidepressants, but I didn’t take it.
Were you tempted to tell the doctor to take a little from the waist while you’re down there? Yeah, [the doctor] offered, but I was like, “Hell no! You’re not doing that.” My belly was big and my breasts are not there, but I just gotta get back on the program and lose it the natural way. There are people who love [plastic surgery] and want to cut and chop anything. I’m like, “Y’all are crazy!” [via]