David Foster Praises Wife Katharine McPhee’s Post-Baby Body, And It’s Super Cringey

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By now, you’ve likely seen or heard something about Grammy-winning Music Producer David Foster’s infamous Instagram post, which commented on Katharine’s post-baby body with “🎼what baby!” She’s famous in her own right, with her appearance as runner-up on American Idol and her starring role as Paige Dineen on Scorpion. 

Katharine has also been transparent about her struggle with body image over the years. As a guest on Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy podcast, she said, “The biggest challenge for me through the pregnancy was really the body issue stuff. It just suddenly came up in a way that hadn’t been present in a long time.” 

We’ve written about snapback culture before, where celebrity moms lose all that pregnancy weight immediately after birth. While healthy weight loss is possible, particularly with a support system, the instant return to the super-thin body gives women the false impression that there’s something wrong with them when they don’t immediately bounce back. That perception is particularly dangerous for women who are already dealing with postpartum depression and body image issues. 

Before Having The Baby

Katharine also talks about navigating body issues on the Women on Top podcast. She says that she feels compelled to talk about her secrets, so she can connect with other people “to help their healing.” She talks with the podcast hosts about how we as women hear messages that say our bodies are not good enough. 

Katharine says, “I think it’s so important for women to talk about the postpartum thing too. I’ve had a lot of women… they’ve given me no baby advice. It’s all been how to take care of yourself, which has been really nice.” She says, “Managing expectations is the most important.” But, Katharine also talks about how her mom encouraged her to get help from a therapist.

What About Now?

One of the responses to David’s post on Instagram was from his mother-in-law, Peisha McPhee, who said, “YOU are such a magnificent husband to my Katharine, always loving her and making her feel honored and empowered as your wife and as a woman. Your respect, constant love and admiration for her is something beautiful to behold… Proud to have you as my son-in-law xx.”

Other responses were not so kind. One person posted: “Postpartum women who don’t have access to a nanny so they can exercise, all the dietician guidance and personal training known to mankind shouldn’t have this as a goal.” The person continued: “She’s stunning but would be no matter what her postpartum body looked like. Let’s stop perpetuating this as a goal.”

When she jumped into the fray, Katharine posted to Instagram: “I’ve struggled with weight my whole 20s and 30. I’ve gone up and down 10 times over. Does that make you feel better? There is nothing wrong with that -most people do.” She continued: “I lost this baby weight without dieting. Zero. Diets are the worst and I’ve had zero pressure from anyone. I’ve let me [sic] body do its thing and found a great workout. That’s it.”

It seems to be true that Katharine faces a horrendous amount of scrutiny and pressure. She’s a new mom who is an influencer, singer, songwriter, and actress. She’s got a lot on her plate, and it wouldn’t be surprising if she was required to fit into a certain size or shape to play a role or fit into a perceived image. 

So many of the critics to David’s comments were responding to the fact that she was able to accomplish something they could not, but a fair number of them really are concerned about her. It’s not easy to “just BE” when there’s so much pressure to immediately snap back AND become a better version of yourself. As Tia Mowry says: “Mamas, we can allow our bodies to just BE while we nourish them (and our little ones!) with good things, instead of buying into the snapback culture.” 

What are your thoughts on David Foster’s controversial Instagram post? We’d love to hear your comments below.

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