Alex Cooper and comedian Robby Hoffman are facing online backlash after comments they made about celiac disease on the popular podcast drew criticism from listeners with the condition.
During the Wednesday episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Ms. Cooper, 31, proposed a game in which she would give Ms. Hoffman, 36, a scenario and the comedian would decide whether it “qualifies as great or [deserving of] jail.”
Ms. Hoffman used the segment to voice skepticism about celiac disease.
“No, it can’t be done. It can’t be done,” she said. “Is it real? Like, I want to see the outbreak. I want to pick up a roll. We’re having rolls tonight. Just a bag of rolls. I don’t care if it’s the Hawaiian roll. Whatever roll. OK. I don’t care if it’s a dinner roll. Butter it up. And let’s see.”
She added that she expects a person with celiac disease to have a dramatic reaction comparable to Will Smith’s character in the 2005 comedy “Hitch.”
Ms. Cooper agreed with her guest, saying the prevalence of celiac diagnoses seemed to her like a recent development. “It does feel kind of recent, huh? No one was allergic to gluten in our classes [growing up],” she said.
Ms. Hoffman continued: “It’s just I got to see. Everybody is suddenly celiac. By the way, they’re coming for us, and fine, I believe you. I’m also joking…That’s what I want to know with these people, is it an allergy or a preference?”
According to the Mayo Clinic, celiac disease is an autoimmune condition — not an allergy — in which the immune system reacts to gluten, sometimes causing damage to the small intestine. Left untreated, the condition can lead to malnutrition, bone loss, infertility, and an elevated risk of certain cancers, particularly intestinal lymphoma. Beyond Celiac estimates that approximately one in 133 Americans — about 1% of the population — has the disease, and that up to 83% of those affected remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
Viewers in the comments section were heated over the remarks, with many pointing out that May is Celiac Awareness Month.
“I don’t eat gluten because I have an autoimmune disease and like not dying of colon cancer. Not because it’s trendy or cool,” one commenter wrote.
Another said: “To even joke about people faking an autoimmune disease is one thing but to flat out call us fakers?? WE COULD GET CANCER FROM EATING GLUTEN. WE EXPERIENCE FERTILITY ISSUES. not to mention the higher risk for falling ill to other immune diseases, malnutrition, anemia, mental health disorders, and so much more.”
Medical experts note that the cancer risk associated with celiac disease is linked to chronic, untreated exposure to gluten over time rather than any single instance of ingestion.
A third commenter pushed back on the hosts’ suggestion that celiac diagnoses are a recent trend. “It’s ’new’ because people didn’t understand it like we do now,” the person wrote — a point supported by medical history. The development of the tissue transglutaminase blood test in 1997 allowed physicians to screen for the condition at scale, enabling far more diagnoses than were previously possible.
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