In 2016, Dr Phil sent Bhad Bhabie to the controversial Turn-About Ranch. Now, she's facing a new challenge.

In October, 21-year-old Bhad Bhabie — whose real name is Danielle Bregoli — posted a photo to Instagram, and very quickly, she was bombarded with comments about her weight.

"Can't 'catch' her out side nomo might slip through your fingers," one user wrote — a reference to the viral "cash me outside" clip that first propelled Bregoli into online infamy, after she appeared on Dr Phil in 2016.

"Girlll get your weight back.. I've been a fan for years & have never seen you so small.. way to pretty for all the weight you're losing," another commented.

Now, Bhad Bhabie has responded to the comments and stated that her recent weight loss is a side effect of a medication she is taking for cancer.

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"I'm Sorry my cancer medicine made me loose [sic] weight," she wrote.

"[I'm] slowly gaining it back. So stop running [with] the worst narratives."

This was the first time Bregoli had spoken about her cancer diagnosis, and while some expressed their empathy and concern for the viral sensation turned rapper, others speculated that she was lying about having cancer.

Controversial media personality Perez Hilton also weighed in, saying that while he wasn't "claiming [she was] lying", he also "wouldn't put it past her to do something like this for attention". A family source confirmed to TMZ that Bregoli does have cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.

Bhad Bhabie's mother, Barbara Bregoli, was quick to defend her daughter.

"How dare you? You little vile piece of s*** [to] say my daughter would lie about something like that," she said in a video on Instagram.

"Go find another way to make some money beside talking s*** about other people," she continued.

"How dare you. And, I pray to God that none of your children never get cancer, okay? I've had it twice. How dare you say my daughter is faking this."

And Barbara wasn't the only one to defend Bhad Bhabie. Many of her fans also offered words of support and called out other users for commenting so freely about someone else's weight.

Watch: Danielle Bregoli, aka Bhad Bhabie, on her experience at Turn-About Ranch. Post continues below video.

"She just revealed that she is on cancer medication. People need to have more empathy instead of jumping to conclusions and assuming. Let's pray for her and send her strength not make jokes," one user commented.

"It's crazy she had to explain on her story about why she's loosing [sic] weight y'all need to stop it you never know what people going through," another wrote.

After going viral in 2016 for her Dr. Phil appearance, Bregoli launched a rap career in 2017. In 2021, she joined the Breaking Code Silence movement when she spoke out about the abuse she witnessed at the Turn-About Ranch, a troubled teen program she was sent to after her Dr. Phil appearance.

"There's nowhere to run. If you try to run out there, they're gonna find you and you're gonna get in more trouble, or, if you do get away, you're gonna get eaten by a coyote," she said in a YouTube video.

"I was taken there against my will... [they] come in the middle of the night, they don't tell [the kids] where they're going, they just take them, handcuff them, and put them in the car. It's basically like kidnapping."

Bregoli welcomed her first child, daughter Kali Rose, with her boyfriend Le Vaughn back in March.

Many have likened Bregoli's cancer diagnosis to what happened with Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman several years ago. Fans criticised Boseman for his weight loss, not knowing that he had been battling colon cancer. When he tragically passed away in August 2020, the news that he had been battling cancer since 2016 shocked fans around the world.

Moments like this serve as a reminder that we never know what somebody is going through. Hopefully one day, we'll be able to move away from our collective obsession with immediately judging people based on their appearance.

Feature image: Getty.