Kim Coles Says ‘Living Single’ Producers Threatened Her With Fat Jokes
Kim Coles Says ‘Living Single’ Producers Threatened Her With Fat Jokes If She Didn’t Lose Weight
Kim Coles, known to millions as the lovable Synclaire James from Living Single, is opening up about the harsh pressures she faced behind the scenes of the iconic sitcom.
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During an August 6 episode of the ReLiving Single podcast with her former co-star Erika Alexander, Coles, 63, revealed that producers once gave her an unsettling ultimatum: lose weight or have her body become the punchline of the show. “The producers of the show came to me and said, ‘Listen, we want you to lose weight. And if you don’t, we’re going to write it into the script. We’re going to put fat jokes in,’” she recalled.
The conversation came as the two revisited the Season 1 episode “Crappy Birthday,” where Queen Latifah’s character Khadijah jokes about something weighing down the car, prompting Synclaire to respond, “You better not be looking at me.” Looking back, both Coles and Alexander recognized that moment as a subtle dig at her weight.
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Alexander admitted that some early drafts of scripts had similar lines. However, she shared that Queen Latifah stepped in early on, making it clear to producers: “We’re not going to be doing that.” After that, Coles said, the jokes stopped appearing on the page—at least overtly.
Still, the pressure didn’t go away. According to Coles, producers would call her manager at the start of each season, pushing her to slim down. She described the atmosphere as one dictated by executives—“suits in an office”—who clung to narrow, Eurocentric ideas of beauty.
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Coles also revealed that she confided in Alexander at the time, telling her about the threat. Alexander’s response was immediate: “I won’t read those jokes.” She added that none of the main cast would have gone along with mocking a fellow actor on-screen. “You have to have willing collaborators,” Alexander said.
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Even with her castmates’ support, the repeated comments took a toll. Coles admitted she made “a very concerted effort” during the show’s run to maintain the look producers expected.
While Living Single remains celebrated for its humor, cultural impact, and trailblazing portrayal of young Black professionals in the ’90s, Coles’ story sheds light on the less glamorous realities of working in Hollywood—especially for women who didn’t fit the industry’s rigid beauty standards.
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Kim Coles Says ‘Living Single’ Producers Threatened Her With Fat Jokes If She Didn’t Lose Weight was originally published on rickeysmileymorningshow.com
