Demi Lovato defends newscaster in weight war

Demi Lovato has offered her support to movie star Ron Livingston's news anchor sister after she was criticised over her weight issues, insisting the TV presenter is a "strong, beautiful and inspiring woman".

Wisconsin native Kenneth Krause took issue with Jennifer Livingston's size and suggested she sets a bad example for young female viewers, prompting the local newswoman to address the criticism during a broadcast, which became a national news item earlier this month (Oct12).

The plus-sized WKBT-TV personality said, "The truth is, I am overweight. You can call me fat - and yes, even obese on a doctor's chart, but to the person who wrote me that letter, do you think I don't know that? That your cruel words are pointing out something that I don't see? You don't know me. You are not a friend of mine. You are not a part of my family."

Lovato, who has suffered anorexia and bulimia in the past, has linked to a video of Livingston's on-air response on her Twitter.com page and defended the news anchor.

In a series of posts, she writes, "Jennifer Livingston is a strong, beautiful and inspiring woman... Almost everything I stand for has been said by Jennifer Livingston in the video below... Please watch this and retweet."