Nelly Furtado seemingly had a powerful message for the haters who think women in the spotlight need to look a certain way. Earlier this month, the pop star performed at the Boardmasters Festival in the UK. Instead of commenting on her performance, many took to social media to scrutinize her body and make offensive comments about how much it’s changed over the years. But on August 24, 2025, Nelly performed at Manchester Pride in an outfit that many saw as a direct response to all the body-shamers.
She wore an oversized T-shirt with a woman’s body on it.
During her Manchester Pride performance, Nelly sported a custom T-shirt that featured a cartoon image of a woman’s body. The woman in the image printed on the shirt was wearing a white tank top with her midriff exposed and jeans with a belt that read “Whoa Nelly” (the title of Nelly’s debut studio album). When Nelly turned around, the cartoon woman’s tattoo that read “Better Than Ever” came into view.
Nelly’s outfit definitely made a statement, whether that was her intention or not.
@oshutthefrontdoor Nelly Furtado singing Maneater at Mardi Gras Manchester Pride 2025. #manchesterpride #nellyfurtado #Pride @Nelly Furtado ♬ original sound – Paul & George 🌈
While Nelly hasn’t said what exactly inspired her to sport the oversized tee, many fans on social media saw it as a clear message to the haters. On TikTok, one fan wrote, “What a QUEEN! She’s such a quiet icon. She literally on this euro tour creating hype around her by showin’ her body and being a legend.”
Another person added, “Love her T-Shirt … it really sticks two fingers up at the media.” Others agreed and also praised Nelly’s confidence. “At a time when you can have a weekly injection and be skinny, I admire her so much in just being herself and doing her thing against the torrent of abuse she gets for having a normal body,” a third fan commented.
A fourth fan wrote, “From someone myself who has curves I think she looks absolutely beautiful and amazing and love her T-shirt.”
In January, Nelly urged her followers to ‘have a body neutral 2025.’
On January 5, she celebrated the new year with a couple of bikini photos. In her Instagram post, she explained that she has “never had any face or body surgeries or augmentation.” Reflecting on the previous year, she wrote, “This year I became aware of the aesthetic pressure of my work in a brand new way, while simultaneously I experienced new levels of self-love and genuine confidence from within.”
She encouraged her followers to embrace who they are. “My New Year’s message for 2025, is express yourself freely, celebrate your individuality and know that it’s perfectly OK to be OK with what you see in the mirror, and it’s also OK to want something different,” she said. “We are all cute little humans just bouncing around the earth looking for hugs.”
In addition to a significant amount of unnecessary hate, Nelly has also received a lot of love.
Nelly Furtado showing that Gen Z knows what a classic is 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1job5eQd9X
— RNB RADAR (@RNB_RADAR) August 15, 2025
When photos of Nelly at the Boardmasters Festival went viral, people who listened to her music 20-some years ago were shocked to see how her body had changed. Nelly’s debut studio album came out in 2000, and her bestselling album, Loose, came out in 2006, when she was in her 20s.
On social media, some people pointed out that it’s pretty ridiculous to expect her to look the same now at age 46. “Some women think they’ll have the same bodies forever,” one fan wrote on X. “No way, bodies change, and my respect to those who manage to reach 45 looking that good.”
“Nelly Furtado doesn’t have the same body she did in 2003 and she’s still beautiful,” someone else on the platform said.
In response to a critic who asked “What happened” to Nelly, a third fan wrote, “25 years perhaps? Have you stayed the same 25 years? She is awesome.”
