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Jennifer Lawrence: ‘It should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV’

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Jennifer Lawrence’s crusade against Hollywood’s body-image issues just made it to Barbara Walters’ prime-time special.

“Why is humiliating people funny?” the unfiltered “Hunger Games” star asks Walters during ABC’s “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013” interview. “And I get it, I do it too. We all do it.”

The 23-year-old Oscar-winner has repeatedly spoken out about weight issues and seems to get the most serious when it comes to being a role model for young women. She’s previously pointed the finger at magazines, Hollywood and E!’s “Fashion Police” for perpetuating the weight criticism.

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“I think when it comes to media, the media needs to take responsibility for the effect it has on our younger generation on these girls that are watching these television shows and picking up how to talk and how to be cool,” the “American Hustle” star added.

“So all of the sudden being funny is making fun of the girl that’s wearing an ugly dress. And the word fat! I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV. I mean, if we’re regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words because of the effect it has on our younger generation, why aren’t we regulating things like calling people fat?”

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When Lawrence was first cast as Katniss, a starving teen fighting for her life in a government-arranged reality show, she was criticized for being too full-figured.

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In December 2012, she told Elle magazine that “in Hollywood, I’m obese. I’m considered a fat actress.”

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In the November issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, she admitted that she had been called overweight and a “stuttering idiot.”

“I was young. It was just the kind of ... that actresses have to go through,” she said. “Somebody told me I was fat, that I was going to get fired if I didn’t lose a certain amount of weight. They brought in pictures of me where I was basically naked, and told me to use them as motivation for my diet.

“They thought that because of the way my career had gone, it wouldn’t still hurt me. That somehow, after I won an Oscar, I’m above it all. ‘You really still care about that?’ Yeah. I was a little girl. I was hurt,” she added. “It doesn’t matter what accolades you get. I know it’ll never happen to me again. If anybody even tries to whisper the word ‘diet,’ I’m like, ‘You can go ... yourself.’”

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And in the December 2013 issue of InStyle, the actress said “nothing can motivate me” to work out.

“During ‘Hunger Games,’ when I was eating ungodly amounts, I used to tell myself, ‘Stop eating, people are going to see this. This movie is going to be around forever.’ But nope! I was like, I still want candy and I still want a hot dog!

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“Then ‘X-Men’ started, and I thought, ‘Oh definitely, I’ll work out and diet.’ But nope. Not me!” she said.

Lawrence is just one of the celebrities Walters considers newsmakers of 2013. The list also includes twerking-savant Miley Cyrus, spotlight-ready couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, “Good Morning America’s” Robin Roberts, the cast of “Duck Dynasty,” NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden and the royal baby, Prince George.

Lawrence’s full interview and Walters’ No. 1 most fascinating person will be revealed during the ABC News special. “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013” on Wednesday.

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