You have to hand it to Tyra Banks; she knows how to handle herself. Tyra appeared on Larry King Live last night to address media criticism over "fat" photos of her that appeared in the tabloids recently. Tyra was photographed by Australian paparazzi on a beach wearing a one-piece swimsuit and looking heavier than in the past  - 30 pounds heavier according to some media.

Instead of accusing the tabloids of wrongly portraying her (although she said she had gained 10 pounds, not 30) Tyra took the media to task for criticizing her weight gain. She verbally reprimanded tabloids who called her fat, angrily stating that there are many young women in the world struggling with their weight who look up to her. Some people have asked, why is Tyra standing up for the plus-size girl now? Where was she back in her earlier modeling days when she had a runway figure?

Tyra, to her credit, spoke honestly about her transition to plus-size advocate. Here is an excerpt from her interview with Larry King:

"I've dedicated this part of -- the first part of my life was about myself. How many magazine covers can I get? How many fashion shows can I walk down? You know, how many of this, how many of that? But this next part of my life is not so much about self- gratification. It's about me using this platform that I have, this talk show that I have, to encourage young women. Larry, I have women crying their eyes out to me, telling me that they want to hurt themselves because of how they look, because they're getting talked about. So I felt like I needed to say something."

Trya plans to discuss the interview and the tabloid photos on her show, The Tyra Banks Show, Feb.1. To show the media that she doesn't care what they think of her body image she will wear the same bathing suit that she was photographed in. Say what you will about that girl - and not everyone is a fan - she if proof that women can be beautiful and confident, no matter what size they are, even in Hollywood.