When Angelina Jolie revealed last month in a New York Times op-ed that she had secretly undergone a preventative double mastectomy, her fiancé Brad Pitt lauded her as "absolutely heroic" and tons of celebrities tweeted their support.
But one surprising critic who has recently spoken out on Jolie's choice is singer Melissa Etheridge.
Etheridge, who battled breast cancer in 2005 and also has the BRCA-1 gene, bluntly told The Washington Blade: "I wouldn't call it the brave choice. I actually think it's the most fearful choice you can make when confronting anything with cancer."
In an interview with the paper, the 53-year-old singer continued to make controversial remarks about cancer:
"My belief is that cancer comes from inside you and so much of it has to do with the environment of your body. It's the stress that will turn that gene on or not. Plenty of people have the gene mutation and everything, but it never comes to cancer. So I would say to anybody faced with that, that choice is way down the line on the spectrum of what you can do and to really consider the advancements we've made in things like nutrition and stress levels."
"I've been cancer-free for nine years now, and looking back, I completely understand why I got cancer," Etheridge added. "There was so much acidity in everything. I really encourage people to go a lot longer and further before coming to that conclusion."
At the "World War Z" premiere in New York on Monday, Pitt responded to Etheridge's comments, disagreeing with her opinion.
"I think it's an individual decision, and I found it very empowering instead of scary," Pitt told Us Weekly. "We experience the exact opposite."
"Melissa's an old friend of mine," Pitt added. "I'm sure we'll talk on the phone. I don't know what it is."
SEE ALSO: Tons Of Celebrities Tweet Their Support For 'Brave' Angelina Jolie