Fans Horrified After Margot Robbie Reveals Weight-Shaming 'Gift' She Once Got From Male Costar

Margot Robbie is reflecting on a moment from early in her career that still stings.

The Australian actor and producer appeared on Complex’s GOAT Talk series on February 9, where she sat down with Charli XCX to discuss her career, romance films, and the worst gift she has ever received. What followed was a candid story about a male costar who handed her something that felt less like a present and more like a pointed message.

The 35-year-old actor described the so-called “gift” that left her stunned:

“Very, very early in my career, an actor I worked with—a male actor—gave me a book called 'Why French Women Don’t Get Fat'… It was essentially a book telling you to eat less.”

And Robbie didn’t sugarcoat her response, “I was like, ‘Whoa, f–k you, dude.’”

The story surfaced as Robbie reflected on how far she has come. She began acting in 2008 as Donna Freedman on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before making her Hollywood debut in 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street, which earned five Academy Award nominations. Following the successes of I, Tonya and Barbie, Robbie was named the world’s highest-paid actress in 2023.

Which made the implication behind the book hard to miss for Robbie:

“He essentially gave me a book to let me know that I should lose weight.”

That book in question, French Women Don’t Get Fat—yes, dear reader, I googled it—was published in 2007 by French-American author Mireille Guiliano. Marketed as a “non-diet” lifestyle guide, it became a number-one New York Times bestseller and was translated into 40 languages.

But the synopsis reads less like liberation and more like instruction:

“French women don’t get fat, even though they enjoy bread and pastry, wine, and regular three-course meals. Unlocking the simple secrets of this ‘French paradox’—how they enjoy food while staying slim and healthy.”

Whatever its branding, Robbie’s experience highlights how quickly “wellness” rhetoric can slip into unsolicited commentary about women’s bodies—particularly in Hollywood, where appearance is often treated as part of the job.

Charli pressed for more details, asking whether the actor was “still acting.”

But Robbie brushed off the idea that she keeps tabs on him:

“That was a very long [time ago]. I have no idea where he would even be now. Really back in the day.”

Turning to the camera, Charli cheekily quipped, “Your career's over, babe.”

You can watch the WOAT (Worst of All Time) gift portion of the interview at the 11:58 mark:

- YouTubeComplex

It’s a tale as old as Hollywood itself: bright lights, big dreams, and someone suggesting you’d look better five or 15 pounds lighter. For years, actors have spoken about body pressure packaged as “lifestyle” guidance. In 2017, Jennifer Lawrence said that early in her career, a producer asked her to lose 15 pounds in two weeks.

She described a humiliating experience on set:

"During this time, a female producer had me do a nude line-up with about five women who were much, much thinner than me. We all stood side-by-side with only tape on covering our privates.”

Chloë Grace Moretz has said she was body-shamed by a male costar when she was 15, and he was in his mid-20s. Emma Thompson revealed she nearly left the 2008 film Brideshead Revisited after her female co-star was asked to lose weight. Melanie Lynskey has also shared that a member of the production body-shamed her on the set of Yellowjackets.

While conversations around body image have evolved, scrutiny has not disappeared—especially amid ongoing public discussion around rapid weight loss and GLP-1 medications. Robbie’s story, though delivered with humor, reflects a broader pattern actors have described for years: criticism framed as concern. And those are only the stories we’ve heard.

One can only imagine how many others remain untold.

Fans online quickly called out the unnamed actor’s behavior as inappropriate, with some sharing that they, too, had received the same book as an unsolicited “gift.”

You can view the reactions here:

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The interview wasn’t all heavy. The duo also debated their picks for the greatest Hollywood heartthrobs of all time, with Charli choosing Jack Nicholson and Robbie naming the late Montgomery Clift

Charli even shared her own worst gift of all time:

“I received once a small jar of one of my fan's mother's ashes. It was a jar on a necklace. I just didn't quite know what to do with it ... I don't know where it is now.”

Their conversation comes as they collaborate on Wuthering Heights, writer-director Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel. The romantic period drama, starring Robbie alongside Jacob Elordi, Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Ewan Mitchell, arrives in theaters tomorrow.

Charli provided the soundtrack, with the first single, “House,” featuring Welsh musician John Cale, described as a departure from the sound of her previous album, Brat.

If anything, the exchange underscored how far Robbie has come, from navigating unsolicited critiques about her body to leading major films on her own terms. In an industry still reckoning with body shaming, her blunt reflection felt like a healthy boundary.