Kathy Hilton slammed after mistaking Lizzo for Precious
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kathy Hilton has been receiving backlash online after she mistook singer Lizzo for the titular character in the 2009 film, Precious.
During her appearance on Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live, Kathy was tasked with naming which celebrity was being shown on screen.
The game worked by bringing up a photo of a celeb, which Kathy had to name.
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The game was called 'Will Kathy Know Them?' and saw Kathy also fail to identify a number of famous faces, including The Rock and Justin Timberlake. And when Cohen showed a photo of Lizzo, Kathy failed again, guessing: "I feel like I do... Precious?"
Kathy has since been criticised over her guess, and took to the comment section of an Instagram post to explain: "The screen was so far away and my vision is terrible. If you recall, I couldn't even make out who Justin Timberlake or Melissa Etheridge was."
While it's reported that Kathy mistook Lizzo for Gabourey Sidibe's character in the Oscar-winning movie Precious, it's also possible she could have mistaken her for model Precious Lee.
"That's what I call her. Her nickname is Precious, to me," she said afterwards.
People were outraged on social media, with many taking to Twitter to criticise Kathy over what she had said.
"Black women are not here to be the butt of your jokes. TF is this???" One person wrote.
While another said: "When 'Precious' came out, a lot of people used the character's name as a derogatory label to fuel their fatphobia and to bully. So no, I don't think that it's funny that Lizzo, home minding her own business, had to watch herself be called Precious in front of millions on live tv."
And a third wrote: "Kathy Hilton was someone I used to look up to. I’m not even going to repeat what she said about Lizzo looking like Precious. Kathy, you’ve lost a long time admirer and fan."
Some people meanwhile, believed Kathy had made an honest mistake, with one adding: "The woman didn't recognize anyone."
And a second said: "It sounds like it was an honest mistake also like someone who doesn't pay attention to Pop Culture."
Lizzo hasn't spoken out about what happened, but instead has been sharing a series of sunny snaps on Instagram from her summer holidays.
UNILAD has reached out to a rep for Kathy Hilton for comment.
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Lucy Devine