CMAT has said she would “love to stop” having to speak out against the abuse she receives about her body and weight, but it “keeps happening”. The Irish pop star, real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, addressed the trolling following her appearance last week at the BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend in Sunderland on 24 May. “It is literally so boring for me, a gorgeous genius, to keep having to yap on about how horribly I am treated because of my body,” the 30-year-old wrote in a post on Instagram.“I would love to stop but I cannot because it keeps happening, at an accelerating and worsening pace as I become more famous. There is no relief from this – nobody can protect me or save me from this, and all that is demanded of me is more and more work as every environment I am placed in becomes more hostile.”CMAT performing at Coachella Festival in April (Getty)In the post, she shared screengrabs of a Substack essay by a music fan under the name Front Row Feels, which CMAT said “summed up a lot of what is causing my deep sadness”.The essay pointed out the contrasting treatment of CMAT and fellow Big Weekend artists such as Olivia Dean and Zara Larsson.CMAT continued by pushing back against a narrative from “well-meaning people” that she is being “defiant” when she performs. “I am not choosing to look like this or weigh this much as some kind of punk rock act of liberty,” she said. “I simply have a body, one that I would of course like to change in order to fit in and avoid all of this abuse, but I have had extreme difficulty in doing so.“I don’t get a say in whether or not I want to be brave, I simply have to sit here and take it.”Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon MusicSign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.Try for freeADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon MusicSign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.Try for freeADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.She added that while she was grateful for her success after “many years of constant grinding”, that success was becoming “increasingly tarnished by the fact that I would be allowed to enjoy it so much more if I was thin”.CMAT, who recently won the Ivor Novello award for Best Album, signed the post “with deep sadness”.CMAT with her Ivor Novello award for Best Album (PA)A number of fellow artists and public figures expressed their admiration and support for the “Euro-Country” singer in the comments.“Once again, people are c***s and hate themselves, you shouldn’t have to suffer,” TV and radio presenter Clara Amfo wrote. “Respect for giving people the real.”“Sometimes it feels like so little has changed in the past 20 years,” presenter Lauren Laverne said. “It’s infuriating. You are brave – not because of anything to do with how you look, but for how you use your voice. “There are so many young girls watching and looking up to you. They absolutely deserve better than the idiots making shitty comments, but they are lucky to have you. Keep on keeping on. You rule.” British pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor wrote: “This is hard to read, but I also feel a fool as I see you being so glorious and wonderful and I didn’t understand how little things have changed. I actually thought things were better now.”Sophie Ellis-Bextor was among the many artists who supported CMAT after her post (Getty)She echoed Laverne’s sentiment, “that you are blazing a brilliant trail and young girls (and old women like me) look to you as someone being brilliant and completely true to themselves. When you’re doing your thing, no one can touch you and you own that.”Lauren Mayberry, frontwoman for the Scottish dance-pop band Chvrches, commented: “Lots of love, pal.”“Been a while since I was in a bar fight but I’d have one over CMAT,” musician Brandi Carlile wrote.CMAT wrote her 2025 single “Take a Sexy Picture of Me” about the scrutiny women face over their bodies. She is currently touring her third album, Euro-Country.