“I just look like everyone else I know“
BY KLARA FERRAIOLI-SCHUBERT, IMAGE BY SARAH DOYLE
2025 has been the year of CMAT.
The bisexual Irish singer-songwriter is finally receiving well-deserved recognition as one of this year’s most talented musicians. Her third album, Euro-Country, released in August, was met with widespread acclaim and was shortlisted for a Mercury Award.
But unfortunately, this rise to fame has not been without its challenges. CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson), like so many women both in and outside the public eye, has suffered repeated abuse based on her physical appearance.
In March 2024, CMAT attended the BRIT Awards, where she was nominated for the International Artist of the Year. She rocked onto the red carpet in a floor-length, high-neck black dress.
But when she turned around, there was a surprise reveal: a large, backless panel which showed off the top half of her bum. Unfortunately, what was intended as a silly, funny outfit resulted in a hoard of abusive comments from the public on social media.
“The backlash was crazy,” CMAT said in an interview with the BBC. “They were horrified and people were really angry and really aggressive in comments… telling me that I had to go to the gym.”
CMAT argued that the reason why she received so much backlash was because her bum is “larger”.
“I think mine caused a stir because it’s big and because I’m a size fourteen as opposed to a size six.”
Shortly after, in May 2024, CMAT received another wave of social media abuse after performing at Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
She began the performance wearing a loose-fitting shirt, which she later ripped off to reveal a tighter-fitting outfit underneath. This was met with cheering and applause from the crowd.
But after posting clips of her performance on social media, the BBC disabled its comments section due to the amount of abuse targeting CMAT’s appearance.
“There was just all these pig emojis and vomit emojis,” said CMAT in an interview with Tape Notes.
“It’s just not something I expected to happen,” she added. “I just look like everyone else I know.”
But, ever the icon, CMAT showed her haters exactly who they were up against: “i didnt realise it was ILLEGAL to have a HUGE ASS !!!! i am GUILTY as CHARGED it is time to lock me up and throw away THE KEY!!!!! by the way i am an award winning songwriter that has released two albums which were received to ‘universal acclaim’” – CMAT on X, May 29, 2024
It seems we can also thank those comments for CMAT’s hit single Take A Sexy Picture Of Me, which she wrote in response to the backlash following her Big Weekend performance.
The lyrics are a public call-out to how women receive constant ridicule based on their physical appearance and are only valued by how “sexy” they are deemed. The song raises the questions: Why do women’s bodies matter so much? Why can’t we let women be successful without using their physical appearance to drag them down?
“My angle from a musical perspective was: write lyrics that make people who ever criticise my appearance feel so uncomfortable with themselves and point out exactly what they’re doing.”
CMAT’s refusal to be beaten down by the hate and instead to use it to her advantage signals a new wave of inclusivity, of women reclaiming autonomy over their bodies.
In an era where it seems body inclusivity is consistently taking steps backwards, we need women like CMAT who aren’t afraid to fight back and who are living proof that women are so much more valuable than simply their physical appearance.
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