Lady Gaga blasts body shamers after Super Bowl 'pot belly' jibes: 'I'm proud of my body'

Some viewers criticised Gaga for baring her 'pot belly' midriff during the half-time show.

Lady Gaga Super Bowl half time show — Lady Gaga was criticised for showing what trolls described as a "pot belly" at the Super Bowl Adrees Latif/Reuters

Lady Gaga has hit back at body shamers who made derogatory comments about her figure at the Super Bowl.

The 30-year-old pop star headlined the half-time show in Houston, Texas on 5 February, but instead of celebrating her critically acclaimed performance, trolls chose to attack her body image. Drawing attention to her stomach area, some critics described her midsection as a "pot belly" while the term "fat" was also used by others.

Now in a defiant Instagram post, the Million Reasons singer launched a fightback: "I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do."

Gaga continued: "I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That's the stuff of champions. thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys."

The Perfect Illusion hitmaker was then flooded with positive messages of support from fans who also championed Gaga's "normal" physique.

One commented: "I have no complaints with your body. You are absolutely beautiful, forget the haters. You're one of my top 10 singers. They're just jealous they don't look like you," while another said: "You looked healthy and that's all what matters. What happenned to curves being NORMAL."

I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too. No matter who you are or what you do. I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you. That's the stuff of champions. thank you so much everyone for supporting me. I love you guys. Xoxo, gaga
A photo posted by xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) on Feb 7, 2017 at 8:38pm PST

One other supporter weighed in: "Haters are just jealous. Real women and men empower each other, they don't criticise and not pick petty things. You go girl! You rocked that show and were in tip top shape!" and another added: "We come in all shapes and sizes. Each and everyone beautiful in their own unique way. F**k the haters!"

Gaga's performance has been hailed as outstanding by fans and critics alike, with the singer eschewing special guests and performing the 13-minute medley solo. Accompanied by a fleet of dancers, Gaga ran through notable singles including Bad Romance, Just Dance and Born This Way. The Grammy-winner also sang renditions of God Bless America and This Is Your Land in a subtle reference to the political turbulence in the US involving President Donald Trump.