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In recent months, Kelly Osbourne has taken aim at body-shamers after virtually every public appearance.

After the weekend’s BRIT Awards, where she and her mother took the stage, those voices cried out in alarm once again.

Kelly’s hitting back.

Are these cruel trolls, her own fans expressing worry, or a blend of both? Intentions might not matter, here.

A posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award is always a bittersweet affair

On Saturday, February 28, Sharon and Kelly attended the BRIT Awards and stepped on stage as a mother-daughter duo.

They were there to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the late Ozzy Osbourne.

Together, they honored the late rocker’s memory.

However, despite the applause (and, where appropriate, laughter) from the audience, many on social media admitted to feeling distracted by Kelly’s appearance.

She saw what they had to say. And she has some thoughts on the conversation.

Over the weekend, Kelly used her Instagram Story to express her pain and disappointment.

“There is a special kind of cruelty in harming someone who is clearly going through something,” she began.

“Kicking me while I’m down, doubting my pain, spreading my struggles as gossip, and turning your back when I need support and love most,” Kelly characterized the commentary.

“None of it proves strength,” she wrote. “It only reveals a profound absence of compassion and character.”

Kelly concluded: “I’m currently going through the hardest time in my life. I should not even have to defend myself. But I won’t sit here and allow myself to be dehumanized in such a way!”

Our hearts go out to the entire family

First and foremost, we continue to be sorry for Kelly’s loss.

Family relationships are complex, but it’s clear that she dearly loved her father. She feels his loss keenly.

Secondly, we do not doubt that Kelly has seen truly abhorrent comments.

She wouldn’t have to go looking for them. An alarming number of people reply with vitriol and insults aimed directly at public figures.

Like half-feral commuters playing full volume TikToks on a bus or more people freaking out on planes, it’s another symptom of numerous societal factors causing people to ignore good manners and forget that other people are, well, people.

However, most of the commentary about Kelly is not directed at her. And it is also not malicious in intention.

Where does online harassment end and genuine expressions of concern over someone’s alarming weight loss begin?

The best answer is probably that people messaging or tagging Kelly are concern trolling at best.

Is Kelly also referring to people who are discussing her body and face and speculating about her health elsewhere?

So long as she isn’t going around looking for commentary, it’s very understandable that she doesn’t like people commenting on her body.

The constant comments on her body will only make this worse

Something to remember is that, as with other public figures — like Khloe Kardashian — Kelly rose to fame at a particularly difficult time.

The late aughts still had the vicious body-shaming culture of the ’80s and ’90s, but were also the dawn of social media.

She is accustomed to seeing cruel remarks upon her body. It is likely that she reads some well-intentioned remarks as hurtful insults, simply out of habit.

This is a difficult time for her on an emotional level. Physically, we do not know what her health is, but some on social media have made compelling comparisons to refugees from famine.

We have to emphasize that asking people to not message Kelly about her body is not pretending that everything is fine. Instead, please understand that incessant comments about someone’s body can and does make disordered eating worse — not better.