Tess Holliday responds to Piers Morgan's body shaming open letter: 'You've been obsessed with me'

American model Tess Holliday has responded to comments made by British journalist Piers Morgan in which he criticised her weight for the second time in just a few weeks.

On Wednesday, Holliday – author of The Not So Subtle Art of Being A Fat Girl and a prominent voice in the body positivity movement – posted a lingerie selfie on Instagram alongside the caption “@lizzobeeating told me to caption this photo 'Damn... that look good' #effyourbeautystandards.”

In response, Morgan later tweeted the image alongside a link to an open letter he penned for the Daily Mail.

In the article, Morgan rallied off a list of ailments that are associated with morbid obesity before accusing Holliday of “promoting a dangerous message.”

He also reiterated comments he made previously on Twitter suggesting that the model needs “better friends” who will tell her that she “is dangerously overweight and should do something about it.”

Holliday quickly came back at the TV presenter, writing: “The last two weeks you’ve been obsessed with me.

“Makes me feel like you’re almost into thicker girls and too afraid to admit it.”

Holliday wasn’t the only one offended by the 53-year-old’s comments as a number of people leapt to her defence.

“This is very sad,” one person tweeted. “Piers badly needs better friends, who are going to be more honest with him & explain he is dangerously unpleasant & should do something about it.”

Another added: “Still going on about this? Why do you keep picking on, or should I say, bullying this woman? Fatism alive and well?”

Despite the backlash, Morgan insists that he’s not obsessed with the UK size 26 model and is instead worried about her health.

“I’m doing it because I am genuinely concerned that your own life will be in danger if you continue down this path,” he wrote.

“It’s just a guaranteed pathway to sickness, misery and possible death."

This isn’t the first time Morgan has commented on Holliday’s appearance. The Twitter storm started back in August when he accused the model’s new cover for Cosmpolitan UK as “dangerous and misguided.”

“As Britain battles an ever-worsening obesity crisis, this is the new cover of Cosmo,” he wrote on Instagram.

“Apparently we’re supposed to view it as a huge step forward for body positivity. What a load of old baloney. This cover is just as dangerous [and] misguided as celebrating size zero models.”

Holliday also responded to this criticism. “To everyone saying I’m a burden on the British health care system, I’m American so you don’t have to worry about my fat ass,” she wrote on Twitter.

“Worry about what horrible people you are by whining about how me being on the cover of a glossy magazine impacts your small minded life."