Singer Leann Rimes has urged the U.S. media to be more careful about reporting on alleged eating disorders among celebrities - because glib reporting is disrespectful to those who are really suffering from anorexia and bulimia.
Rimes has become the latest star to fall victim to speculation about her weight following the publication of a series of recent bikini photos, in which she appears to be sporting a super-skinny look - but she insists she's perfectly healthy.
However, the tabloids keep picking on her and linking her to serious illnesses and now she claims the stories are getting more than a little out of hand.
In a taped interview with TV host Ellen DeGeneres, which will air on her show on Thursday, the How Do I Live singer says, "I've kind of gotten over it when it comes to do with myself... (but) these are diseases and using them as name calling, it's almost bullying.
"I feel a sense of responsibility for the people that are actually going through these diseases and I'm not one of them.
"The press have been very irresponsible calling a lot of people fat or anorexic or bulimic, or whatever It may be. It seems like bullying now instead of really taking these diseases seriously that a lot of people are going through."
