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That is, until pictures of the Ghost Whisperer star emerging from the Pacific surf ran on the gossip Web site TMZ.com with the headline, "We know what you ate this summer, Love – everything!"
Ouch! The site, and others that picked up the photos, invited readers to comment on what they saw. Hundreds did, reacting with sentiments ranging from "it's nice to see normal" to "time to put down that fork." But the online comments that drew the most attention came from the spurned star herself, who responded on her official Web site on Nov. 29. "What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles. . . . Like all women out there should, I love my body," wrote Hewitt, 28, who has flaunted her figure in Hanes underwear ads for two years. "To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini – put it on and stay strong."
On Dec. 4, TMZ issued an apology on its TV program: "We did go too far. . . . And we're sorry."
In the meantime, Hewitt's body-image battle cry rallied others to speak out. "To have to defend [your weight] or explain it – I don't understand when that happened," says actress Anne Hathaway. But it is a phenomenon with which she and her peers are familiar. Eva Mendes adds, "Of course it bothers you. A few months ago, people thought I was pregnant. Maybe I was bloated that day? It's one of those things you've got to laugh at."
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