Julia Louis-Dreyfus Ad Pulled for Insulting Overweight People

Commercial for Israeli satellite cable provider Yes shows actress mistakenly thinking a full-figured coworker is pregnant.

A commercial starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus has rubbed a few folks the wrong way.

In an advertisement for Israeli satellite cable provider Yes, the actress is seen rubbing the belly of a plus-size coworker and congratulating her on expecting a child, only to inadvertently add insult to injury by later commenting to other staff members, "I would like to apologize to Betty for thinking that she was pregnant. Obviously she hasn't dated anyone in forever."

The spot, however, has been taken off the air after Israel's Yedid Association for Community Empowerment wrote a letter of complaint to Yes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It states: "There are a lot of weight-challenged individuals in Israel who are treated in an irreverent and hurtful manner. There is no justification to illustrate a stigma which suggests a larger woman is either pregnant or simply too fat for anyone to consider going out with."

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Israel's Second Authority for Television &Radio subsequently ordered the company to pull the ad, noting that "the Yes commercial has been hurtful to a portion of the public, despite the inherent freedom of speech in advertising media. Should there be a new request to air the spot, the authority will need to reexamine the material and deliberate then."

Yes, in turn, released a statement of its own.

"The playful commercial was based on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' past characters, and the message is how one may handle making a mistake. If anyone is being ridiculed throughout the spot it is Julia herself, who is the one making these mistakes."

See the spot below:

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