DoctorOz: Lizzie Velasquez's Life-Changing Journey from Bullying Victim to Global Inspiration

The next introduction is hard to make. She is known as the ugliest woman in the world, and I hate even repeating those mean-spirited words that mean-spirited Internet trolls first called her. Lizzy Velasquez broke all the rules and threw kindness back at their hate. It ended up changing the way many in the world see her and how she sees herself. She's become an international celebrity and one of the most inspirational women I have ever met. Lizzy Velasquez, born prematurely at just 2 pounds 11 ounces, was a medical mystery from birth. Doctors knew that something was wrong, but didn't know what. All we had known all my life was that I had a syndrome where I can't gain weight. Now 26, Lizzy has never weighed more than 64 pounds. She's too busy. Hi, Lizzy. Throughout her childhood, Lizzy was teased and bullied because of her appearance. I would sit here and hide, and then other kids will stare at me or just not be nice. I remember going up to groups of kids that were playing, and they would just walk away. But Lizzy's confidence, instilled in her by her parents, combined with her natural zest for life, helped her to rise above the adversity. Lizzy made friends, achieved academic success, even joined her school's cheerleading squad. I had all my friends around me, all my family around me. I was on a high road. But everything changed when Lizzy was 17. An Internet troll posted a video of Lizzy on YouTube, dubbing her the world's ugliest woman. The video was viewed over 4 million times. But for Lizzy, the worst part was the comments. Calling me a monster or asking why my parents didn't abort me. Kill it with fire. And she would just pick up a gun and end my life. Fighting back, Lizzy started making her own YouTube videos, putting her positive messages out on the web. In my mind, having control of my own channel and being able to put out what I want was the best way that I could show people that they're not holding me back. I'm happy that you guys are getting to know me as me, not me as the ugliest girl in the world. Lizzy's YouTube channel has put her on the map and led to her now-famous TED Talk that has inspired millions of people around the world. You are the one that decides what defines you. For so long, I thought what defined me was my outer appearance. But then I started realizing, am I going to let the people who call me a monster define me? Am I going to let the people who said, kill it with fire, define me? No. I'm going to let my goals and my success and my accomplishments be the things that define me, not my outer appearance. Please welcome Lizzy. I'm so moved by your story. Thank you. I just love having you here. Thank you so much. I'm not alone. Obviously, the audience loves you more than I do, I think. I'd love to just talk a little bit about this moniker that these internet trolls gave you. I'd love to hear what happened, why you even wandered upon this site that called you those terrible things, the ugliest woman in the world. It was definitely an accident. I was being a typical teenager, procrastinating, doing homework and wanting to look for music on YouTube. And I saw a picture that looked a little bit familiar. And I had no idea once I clicked on it that it would change my entire world. And when I did, it was the video calling me the world's ugliest woman and had over 4 million views. And the comments were not so great. A lot of them were just saying the world would be a better place if I wasn't in it. So terrible. I think it would have crushed a lot of people. But although you may look a little diminutive in physical size, your soul is so large. You channeled that pain into something very positive. What gave you the inner strength to do that? It was a process. It definitely wasn't something where I woke up one morning and I thought, all right, I forgive everybody. This is great. They didn't mean it. It was more of how can I take control of the situation and turn it around? I think I was so determined to not let their words become my truth. I wanted to figure out how I could do that on my own. And I had no clue how I was going to do that, but I was able to. I mean, I had the greatest support system in the world. Comes in handy. It definitely does. So you mentioned your social support, which is vital to all of us. Your mom, Rita, is joining us. May I ask you a question? Yes. I got to say, you've had the pleasure of witnessing and being part of this beautiful young woman going from a bullied 17-year-old to a self-assured young woman who's inspiring millions of people. What is that like for you? Beyond words. Very, very proud of her. Extremely, extremely proud of all three of our kids. Lizzie's just been amazing. The most inspirational woman I have ever met, Lizzie Velasquez. Her life is the subject of a great new documentary called A Brave Heart, perfectly named. So why was it important for you to be part of this documentary? I think it was one of those things where it was just time. I was at a point in my life where I finished college and was figuring out what I wanted to do next, and I was ready to be able to use my voice for other people. And to be able to do a documentary to show my story but really be able to show everyone's story was very, very important for me. So there's a young woman in the audience. Her name is Jill, and she is one of millions of folks who have been hurt by cyberbullying. It happens to young people, I think, because it's a frail time in our lives. Let's look at her story. Always a little taller and larger than the other girls at school, Jill has been teased for her size and appearance from a young age. But then a few weeks ago, kids at school circulated a Photoshopped image of Jill's face on a whale's body, calling it Jill Whale. Jill tried to put a positive spin on the situation and wrote a moving message on Facebook about inner beauty. And a friend helped her create the hashtag Go Whale Yourself as a response to the bullies. But instead of shutting down the haters, this only brought on more backlash from classmates, leaving Jill feeling ashamed and at a loss for how to combat her school's cyberbullies. So it's okay. Jill, come join us if you don't mind. Come on up on stage. Come have a seat. Thank you for being here. So, I know you want to ask for some advice. Yes, I will. I'm such a big fan and I just think that your message is so important and I would love for you to tell me how to keep fighting the bullies and the haters who want to bring me down even though I'm trying to climb up the ladder. Well, first, it's so nice to meet you and I admire your bravery so much. I definitely know what it's like to have people be not so nice, especially online. But my secret to being able to get through all of that is really forgiveness because I think a lot of times we forget that people bully other people because they're coming from a place of hurt themselves. And the only way that they know how to get through that is to hurt other people. And unfortunately, you and I were on the other end of that. You know, Ja, I don't know if you remember this part of the conversation from the little tape package, but Lizzie was talking about the fact that you don't want to give the power to anybody else. And that's ultimately what it's about. So forgive them. Find ways of having fun with it. I know it's hard, it seems anyway, right now. But as you get past it, these things should not influence your life. So I got a little deal for y'all if you want to do it. And we're willing to post this up. I want to give you my support. So I thought what we'd do is as we go out to break, you and I, and Lizzie, if you want to do this, we'll make a little video that you can show all those cyber bullies at school. Right? I would like that. We'll quiet them down for a while, I hope. All right? In fact, we're going to make a couple cool videos to address this topic because I think it's worth the investment. And what we're going to do is post them up there on our Facebook page. I want you to take it and share it. Because both of you are very special lights. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss out on new videos to live the good life.