Mike and Molly Marie Claire Controversy

On the Today show, co-host Meredith Viera commented, "An article posted on Marie Claire's website set off a firestorm."

They get big laughs for their weight, but now their size is sparking a nationwide uproar after a blogger for Marie Claire said the stars of the new CBS sitcom, Mike and Molly, are promoting obesity.

The blogger wrote, "I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other."

Today, the show's creator, Mark Roberts, called the blogger's comments "hateful," and Marie Claire says more than 28,000 e-mails poured in, most of them expressing anger.

Actress Melissa McCarthy, who plays Molly, said, "This is a problem that so many people deal with, and it's looked at lightly and sweetly at the same time."

When INSIDE EDITION caught up with the Mike and Molly stars McCarthy and Billy Gardell not long ago, they knew their size was a topic that would touch a nerve.

"I've gone up; I've gone down. I've been thin; I've not been thin. And everybody I know, even if I think they look amazing, is trying to lose that last five pounds," said McCarthy.

Gardell added, "It's a topic that everybody deals with. I mean, I don't know anyone who doesn't stand in the mirror and think, 'Man, I'm a mess!' "

Marie Claire is standing by the blogger, Maura Kelly. She has issued an apology and is now revealing that she struggles with her own issue with weight.

"My extreme reaction might have grown out of my own body issues," she writes, adding, "my history as an anorexic, my life-long obsession with being thin."

But does that excuse what she said?

"Why are you being so mean?" said Emme Aronson.

As a former plus-sized model, Aronson knows what it is to be criticized for her weight.

Aronson said, "There's no compassion and there's no consideration. It's not an issue of size. It's an issue of being human."