Gabourey Sidibe felt 'beautiful' during 'Empire' sex scene

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Gabourey Sidibe isn't fazed by criticism of her recent Empire sex scene.

The 32-year-old actress, who plays Becky Williams on the Fox musical drama, brushed off her detractors in an Entertainment Weekly post following her sex scene with J Poppa (Mo McRoe) on Wednesday's episode.

"I, a plus sized, dark-skinned woman, had a love scene on primetime television," she wrote. "I had the most fun ever filming that scene even though I was nervous. But I felt sexy and beautiful and I felt like I was doing a good job."

"I'm very proud of the work we all did to make that scene a great opening for the episode," she added. "I keep hearing that people are 'hating' on it. I'm not sure how anyone could hate on love but that's okay. You may have your memes."

Sidibe discussed the scene again with People at the Screen Actors Guild Foundation 30th Anniversary Celebration. The actress told the magazine she was "really happy" to take part in the progressive scene, and said she hopes more like it will follow.

"I'm really, really proud of it," she shared. "I think the scene was really fun and lovely and sexy. I felt beautiful, and I felt comfortable, and I didn't look nervous at all, and I was kind of nervous, so I'm really glad that that didn't come across."

Sidibe first appeared as Becky in the pilot episode, and was made a series regular in season 2. Empire season 2 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET. The actress is also known for the movie Precious and FX series American Horror Story.