The viral Joe Rogan X-ray post and the real truth about body positivity

The Joe Rogan x-ray. A fake x-ray. A viral post. A caption designed to shock.

I won’t share it with you because, quite frankly, the post is disgusting and I won’t drive any more traffic to it, but recently, The Joe Rogan Experience shared an image that claimed to show the “medical reality” of being in a fat body. The supposed X-ray compared a skeleton to surrounding fat tissue, listing all the ways this body was apparently failing under its own weight.

It was captioned with a warning: “Fat isn’t just ‘extra’… It is dangerous. It isn’t beautiful. It is deadly.”

Except that image isn’t real. And that messaging? It’s not just unhelpful – it’s harmful.

Where the viral Joe Rogan x-ray image actually came from

Let’s start with the facts. The X-ray doing the rounds is not a real X-ray. According to an article by Snopes, the image was digitally created using two different medical scans: one of a human skeleton, and one of a separate person’s body mass. These were layered together to create a dramatic “before and after” style visual.

It didn’t come from a peer-reviewed medical journal. It’s not a diagnostic tool. It’s a piece of visual propaganda, designed to shock people into judging larger bodies, and worse, judging themselves.

Yet it was shared as fact by The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast with millions of listeners and social media platforms with hundreds of thousands of views per post.

Fear doesn’t lead to health

Posts like this are not helpful. They tap into people’s fear and shame. They suggest that weight is not only a health risk, but a moral failure – that if you’re in a larger body, you’re doing something wrong and putting others at risk just by existing.

But health doesn’t work that way. And weight isn’t a behaviour.

We can’t see someone’s eating habits, fitness level, sleep patterns, trauma history, genetics, or medication from an image. An X-ray (real or fake) doesn’t tell you anything about their day-to-day wellbeing or their lived experience.

Fear-based messaging like this isn’t educational. It leads to disordered eating, body shame, and people avoiding doctors altogether, especially when they know they’re likely to be dismissed or judged for their size.

Body positivity doesn’t ignore health

The caption beneath the image included the phrase, “Body positivity shouldn’t ignore medical reality.” That makes it sound like body positivity is about pretending there’s no such thing as illness or risk. It’s not.

Body positivity is about recognising that people deserve dignity and respect in all body sizes. It’s about understanding that health is not guaranteed to anyone, and no one owes the world a smaller, more socially acceptable body in order to deserve care.

It’s about moving away from shame-based narratives and toward an approach that values behaviours like balanced eating, joyful movement, rest, and self-compassion rather than the number on a scale.

Weight stigma is the real danger

The obsession with weight as a primary indicator of health has real consequences. Many people in larger bodies are too scared to visit their doctor when they’re worried about something. Fat people are repeatedly told to “come back when you’ve lost weight”, as if that’s going to be the magic cure. Go away, fix yourself, then we’ll go from there. People stay away from going to a medical professional, even when they’re in terrible pain or worried about serious symptoms. That delay in care can make conditions worse, sometimes fatally so.

The negative health outcomes that are constantly banged on about as being attributed to obesity are more often than not because the person has been too scared to seek help that they’ve left it and left it, until it’s so advanced that treatment is hard and expensive, or it’s simply (sadly) too late. How is that right?

So if we’re talking about what’s dangerous, let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about the long-term mental and physical impact of a medical system and a culture that makes assumptions based on size.

You don’t owe anyone a smaller body

No matter what anyone thinks, a person has full autonomy over their own body. They are under no obligation to change it to meet someone else’s expectations, fears, or assumptions. YOU are under no obligation to change.

You don’t have to eat healthily if you don’t want to. You don’t have to exercise, get mobile, get strong, get lean, get fit if you don’t want to. You can seek treatment for medical conditions, or not. It’s all up to you how you choose to care for your own health.

Even if there are health conditions linked to high body fat, it’s still a personal choice how someone responds to that information. Some people will want to pursue weight loss and for their bodies to be as fit and healthy as they can be. Others won’t. Either way, they deserve care, respect, and access to the full spectrum of healthcare.

Who do you trust for your information?

It’s easy to assume that popularity equals credibility, but that’s a dangerous shortcut when it comes to your health and wellbeing. Just because someone has millions of followers doesn’t mean they’re qualified to speak on complex issues like medicine, nutrition, or body image.

Take Joe Rogan, for example. While The Joe Rogan Experience might be one of the most listened-to podcasts in the world, it has a long track record of spreading misinformation. The viral X-ray image is just the latest in a long list of misleading, fear-based posts that are presented as fact. But where’s the expertise? Where’s the peer-reviewed research? Where’s the accountability?

Before you take something at face value, especially something that triggers fear, shame, or urgency, ask: Who are they to give me this information? What’s their agenda? And most importantly, do they actually have the qualifications or lived experience to speak on this?

It’s not about cancelling anyone. It’s about being a critical consumer of the content that’s shaping how you see yourself and others.?

Body positivity is bigger than a buzzword

I work with women every day who are tired of shrinking – physically, mentally, emotionally. They’re tired of being told their worth is conditional. These women are building confidence that isn’t rooted in BMI charts. They’re showing up at work, in life, and in relationships without needing to apologise for how they look.

That’s what body positivity really means. It’s not a denial of health risks. It’s a refusal to weaponise them against people who don’t fit the mould.

If you’ve seen the Joe Rogan X-ray image and felt that sinking feeling in your stomach (the one that says “maybe they’re right”) I want you to know: they’re not.

You’re allowed to take up space. You’re allowed to pursue health on your own terms. And you’re allowed to say no to shame, even when it’s dressed up as science. 

This is episode 155 of The Intuitive Eating & Body Positivity Podcast – What that viral ‘obesity X-ray’ gets completely wrong

Listen to the episode below or explore all episodes on the podcast page.