Melissa McCarthy Recalls Being Referred to as 'Grotesque' During a Press Conference

Melissa McCarthy is opening up about some of the body-shaming she's had to endure at the hands of reporters and journalists.

The Oscar-nominated actress got candid about the struggles of being a female star in Hollywood during an interview with InStyle magazine, telling the publication for its February cover story that she was once called "grotesque" during a press conference for one of her films.

"Years ago, I was at a press conference for either 'The Heat' or 'Tammy,' and somebody from a very big organization kept asking me, 'Why do you always feel the need to be so grotesque?'" McCarthy told the mag. "It was a huge interview with maybe 100 people in the room, and he was sneering."

McCarthy said she kept her composure at the time, telling the reporter, "'What are we talking about? I can't answer your question because I don't understand it.' He goes, 'You look sloppy, you're not wearing any makeup, your hair is not done, you're yelling at people.'"

"I was like, 'Okay, so have you ever asked this of a guy? I'm playing a character. You need to get out more if you don't think there are real women like that,'" she explained. "He goes, 'Oh, fine, I'm aggressive, call it whatever you want. If you don't want to answer the questions, you shouldn't come to the panel.'"

Although McCarthy wanted to tell the reporter to "eff off," she didn't because then he'd "win on every possible level."

"I was like, 'I really want to answer your questions. I'm sorry I didn't wear makeup in a part. I'm sorry I didn't look pleasant for you. But I also don't think you should be here writing about movies,'" she said.

Unfortunately, that experience was not a one-off for the actress. She recalled another encounter with an offensive journalist.

"I do remember another interview I did for 'Bridesmaids' with somebody who later lost his job for a conversation he had on a bus with someone else. I won't mention names, but just think about it," McCarthy said. "He kept asking, 'Are you shocked that you actually work in this business at your tremendous size?'"

"He was like, 'Oh, your tremendous size, you can actually work?' I just remember all the blood drained out of me. I thought, 'With my tremendous size, I could tackle you so quickly,'" she said. "There were two cameras on him, and one was on me, and he went back to that question three or four times, and I just kept talking about the script or how fun Paul Feig was. He was looking around like, 'She's crazy.'"

"When we left, their producer was horrified and said, 'We'll never play what he said. I'm so sorry,'" McCarthy recalled.

"But it happens all the time, to the point where it's fascinating because they don't do it to men. Not to be a jerk or single him out, but when John Goodman was heavier, did anybody ever talk about his girth?"

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