Bebe Rexha has revealed that Taylor Swift reached out to her after designers allegedly refused to dress her for the 2019 Grammys because of her body size.
Rexha, now 37, recalled the moment while speaking to E! News on the blue carpet at the MTV VMAs on Sunday. The singer said Swift contacted her after hearing about the trouble she was having finding a dress for the awards show.
“I remember when I had the whole Grammys situation, and I couldn’t find a dress, and she had reached out to me because we’re the same age,” Rexha said.
“And I thought that was really, really, really kind of her.”
Rexha said the gesture stood out because, despite the attention surrounding the story, she felt relatively little support from the industry at the time.
“Like, nobody really reached out,” she said, before adding that some people did. What mattered, she explained, was that Swift had reached out from what Rexha described as a particularly high level of the industry and made her feel that she belonged.
The original controversy erupted in the run-up to the 2019 Grammys, after Rexha said fashion designers had rejected her because they considered her too big to dress.
“So, I finally get nominated at the Grammys, and it’s like, the coolest thing ever,” Rexha said in an Instagram video at the time, referring to her Best New Artist nomination.
She explained that her team had contacted a number of designers about creating a custom gown for the ceremony, only to be turned down.
“And a lot of them do not want to dress me because I’m too big. Literally, I’m too big,” she said.
Rexha specifically pointed to a size 6/8 as the apparent threshold she had been told was too large, adding: “If a size 6/8 is too big, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
She wasn’t interested in quietly taking the insult.
“You’re saying that all the women in the world that are size 8 and up are not beautiful and they cannot wear your dresses,” she said.
Come Grammy night, Rexha showed up anyway — wearing a red, tiered tulle gown designed by Monsoori and making sure nobody could miss her.
At the time, she also acknowledged support from other artists, including Demi Lovato and Rita Ora, telling E! host Ryan Seacrest that the response had been more positive than she expected.
Six years later, the subject of body image remains part of Rexha’s public conversation. In February 2025, she responded to a TikTok commenter who pointed out that she had gained weight.
“I’m very aware of everything,” she said. “I know I gained weight. I know that I’ve been through a lot.”
Rexha added that she felt stronger than ever and wasn’t looking for sympathy.
Then, in May, she revealed that she had suffered a pregnancy loss and urged people to think twice before commenting on someone else’s body.
The Grammys incident may have happened years ago, but Rexha’s point has remained remarkably consistent: the body is hers, the dress is hers, and apparently she intends to wear both on her own terms.
Celebrity Hollywood Hot Chicks Influencers Music News
Last modified: September 30, 2026
