When I was growing up, my parents taught me to ignore other kids who bothered me, as long as it wasn’t serious. We teach our son not to get involved with teasing, not to let it get to him and to tell the teacher when necessary. It’s clear the Palin family doesn’t use that common strategy, because they’re quick to fire back responses that show just how much comments can get under their skin. Case in point: Bristol’s latest statement about a stupid and arguably mean joke that Kathy Griffin made about her weight. While entertaining the troops on Friday, Griffin said that Bristol was “the only contestant in the history of [DWTS] to actually gain weight… she gained like 30 pounds a week… she’s like the white Precious.” The servicemen and women booed Griffin, and that should have been enough. Instead, the Palin camp has issued yet another statement.

Just yesterday Bristol made a self righteous and defensive statement on her Facebook about how fellow DWTS contestant Margaret Cho was wrong when she claimed that Bristol’s mom Sarah forced Bristol to compete on the show. As many of you pointed out, it’s clear that the statement was not written by Bristol, given the advanced vocabulary and older pop culture references. I think it’s safe to assume the same about this statement. At least Bristol’s mom’s ghostwriter didn’t make another uncalled for reference to gay people.

Kathy Griffin hosted the VH1 Divas salute to the troops this weekend, but her “jokes” about Bristol Palin being “fat” fell flat.

“She’s the only contestant in the history of the show to actually gain weight,” Griffin said in reference to Bristol’s trip to the finals on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Even after the troops’ loud booing, Griffin continued the attack.

“No, come on, come on. She gained like 30 pounds a week, I swear to God, it was fantastic,” Griffin said. “She’s like the white Precious.”

But Palin, 20, isn’t letting 50-year-old Griffin’s digs bring her down.

“The audience’s reaction to this ‘comedian’ spoke volumes, and the decent people I know would probably have booed her, too,” Palin told Pop Tarts in an exclusive statement. “I hope people didn’t have to pay money to hear her negativity and criticisms.”

The annual VH1 show, which was taped at San Diego’s Miramar Marine base and presented by the USO, also featured a slew of young performers such as Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Paramore. So could Griffin’s comments be potentially dangerous to the young viewers who tuned in to watch their idols on stage?

“Calling Bristol Palin fat is inappropriate and distasteful, even under the guise of humor,” body image expert and author of “Love Your Body Love Your Life,” Sarah Maria, told Pop Tarts. “The problem is that people, and particularly young people, easily absorb the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes that are presented to them. [It’s a problem]
when someone makes critical comments about someone else’s body and weight, beliefs such as ‘fat is a horrible thing,’ ‘I am no good unless I am thin.'”

According to PopEater’s Rob Shuter, VH1 producers considered editing out the awkward dialogue and response, recorded Friday night, but given the attention it generated, decided to leave it in Sunday’s television broadcast.

VH1 and a rep for Griffin declined to comment.

And while Griffin strutted in a bikini in what she called her “starvation body,” the comedienne wasn’t always so willing to flaunt her figure.
Just last year, the “Suddenly Susan” star admitted that she fell prey to some serious body image issues while seeking out her “big break” in Hollywood. Not only did Griffin get a nose job at the age of 26 in an attempt to improve her appearance, in addition to liposuction that she claims almost killed her, she also reportedly exercised obsessively, starved herself during the day and binged at night.

Having experienced the pain and pressure of show business first-hand, might one think Griffin would be a little mores sensitive to such issues?

“It is quite surprising, given her own experience,” Maria said. “One would hope that her own difficulties would awaken a sensitivity, understanding, and compassion regarding the difficulties of body weight and image in today’s culture.”

[From Fox News]

Of course Sarah Palin’s people gave “Bristol’s” statement to Fox News, and of course Fox News went on in that article about how Kathy Griffin has her own body image issues and how she should know better. She’s a comedian and she makes rude jokes for a living. People who are in the spotlight should know better than to respond to every criticism. Then again, maybe they’re doing it on purpose. The more they complain about what a target they are, the more they get picked on. We tell our kids not to get caught up in that, but it seems to have a distinct advantage for people who want to be talked about as much as possible. I do have to give Sarah Palin’s ghostwriter some credit for holding back this time, though. They could have gone on about Kathy’s eating disorder or her plastic surgery. Instead they let Fox News do that for them.

I’ll say something nice – I don’t blame Bristol for any of this. She’s 20, and when I was 20 I also would have taken credit for any statement my mom asked me to.