Back in February, movie critic Rex Reed saw the movie 'Identity Thief,' and instead of judging it based on its content, decided to hone in on one of the film's stars, Melissa McCarthy, and attack her weight. Because he's classy like that.

In his piece he referred to the 'Bridesmaids' actress as "tractor-sized" and a "female hippo," and pretty much everyone called him out for it -- except McCarthy herself. Until now.

During an interview with the New York Times (to promote her new movie 'The Heat,' opposite Sandra Bullock), she was asked about the controversy.

Unsurprisingly, McCarthy answered with aplomb and a whole lot of class.

Without directly mentioning Reed's name, she said that while his words stung at first, in the end, there was only pity: "I felt really bad for someone who is swimming in so much hate. I just thought, that’s someone who’s in a really bad spot, and I am in such a happy spot. I laugh my head off every day with my husband and my kids who are mooning me and singing me songs."

The 42-year-old actress admitted that had she been the subject of such harsh criticism in her 20s, it might've "crushed" her, but she's in a different place now. That said, McCarthy, who has two daughters, is concerned that such rampant body-shaming "just add[s] to all those younger girls, that are not in a place in their life where they can say, ‘That doesn’t reflect on me.'"

Reed, meanwhile, has since proved that he is a very sad man indeed, blaming Universal for his remarks -- specifically, saying the studio piggy-backed off the controversy to sell tickets to the film -- and later conveniently "forgetting" the name of the actress he so viciously attacked.

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