A French plus-size model who says she was mocked on video by bakery owners has launched a petition urging lawmakers to add "fatphobia" to the country’s Penal Code as a form of punishable discrimination.
Harmony Albertini, a body-positivity influencer with about 675,000 followers on TikTok, said the campaign was prompted by a visit to a bakery in Montpellier to pick up a birthday cake ordered by her partner. Albertini posted that she initially praised the bakers but was later alerted to a clip showing the couple making what she described as "shocking, fatphobic, misogynistic, and completely cruel remarks" while preparing the cake. In the since-deleted video, the bakers were heard calling her a "slut" and a "fat potato" and comparing her to a "sperm whale," she said.
Albertini said she tried to file a complaint with authorities after receiving the clip but was told investigators were limited because the video had not been addressed directly to her. "It was as if I had said to them, 'They told me I was ugly,'" she said in interviews, adding that the response failed to account for the greater harms of what she described as ableism and attacks on a person's dignity.
The petition seeks to amend Article 225-1 of the French Penal Code, which bars discrimination based on physical appearance in law, by explicitly including the term "fatphobia" as a protected criterion alongside sexism, racism and homophobia. The proposed definition in the petition frames "fatphobia" as any "remarks, behavior, unfavorable treatment or incitement" linked to a person's weight, build or body size. As of Friday afternoon, the petition had 13,347 signatures toward a 100,000-signature goal.
"The word 'fatphobia' doesn't exist in the law," Albertini wrote in the petition, arguing that omission means victims may not recognize themselves, institutions minimize such incidents and society continues to trivialize what she calls everyday violence. She told Jam Press she hoped the petition would be an act of reclaiming dignity and freedom even if it did not reach its numerical target or lead immediately to legal change.
Legal experts and rights advocates say French law already prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical appearance and that prosecuting individual cases depends on the circumstances and evidence. Albertini's account illustrates a tension between existing anti-discrimination statutes and the difficulty of securing enforcement when insulting remarks are not directed at a specific individual or when they occur in deleted or privately circulated videos.
French lawmakers have in recent years debated broadening protections for various characteristics, and civil society groups have called for clearer recognition of new forms of discrimination. Supporters of adding explicit language for weight-based bias say it would help victims identify mistreatment and encourage authorities to investigate. Critics argue that creating additional protected categories can complicate enforcement and that statutory changes should be carefully defined to avoid unintended consequences.
Albertini has documented receiving fat-shaming since childhood and has used social media to promote body positivity. She told followers that even if the petition does not reach its signature goal or produce immediate legal results, public pressure and collective action are valuable tools for changing social norms.
Authorities in Montpellier did not immediately comment on the specifics of the incident described by Albertini. The case and similar complaints are likely to prompt discussion among legal experts, rights groups and lawmakers about whether France's anti-discrimination framework needs revision to address weight-based prejudice more explicitly.
Albertini's petition and the episode at the bakery have drawn attention on social media and in French media as part of a wider international conversation about how law and public policy should respond to harassment based on body size and appearance. The petition remains open online for signatures as the debate continues.