The 'Bridget Jones's Baby' actress is speaking out on the plastic surgery rumors and the persistent 'smut pile' of tabloid stories about her looks.
- Aug 6, 2016
AceShowbiz - Renee Zellweger pens a powerful essay to address plastic surgery rumors and the persistent "smut pile" of tabloid stories about her appearance. She writes about how "a woman's worth has historically been measured by her appearance" and denies she went under the knife.
"I am lucky. Choosing a creative life and having the opportunity to do satisfying work that is sometimes meaningful is a blessed existence and worth the price paid in the subsequent challenges of public life," Renee shares in an op-ed for The Huffington Post, "Sometimes it means resigning to humiliation, and other times, understanding when silence perpetuates a bigger problem."
On the red carpet of the 2014 ELLE's 21st Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration, Renee was deemed "unrecognizable". She says, "In October 2014, a tabloid newspaper article reported that I'd likely had surgery to alter my eyes. It didn't matter; just one more story in the massive smut pile generated every day by the tabloid press and fueled by exploitative headlines and folks who practice cowardly cruelty from their anonymous internet pulpits."
"Not that it's anyone's business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes," she continues, "This fact is of no true import to anyone at all, but that the possibility alone was discussed among respected journalists and became a public conversation is a disconcerting illustration of news/entertainment confusion and society's fixation on physicality."
"It's no secret a woman's worth has historically been measured by her appearance. Although we have evolved to acknowledge the importance of female participation in determining the success of society, and take for granted that women are standard bearers in all realms of high profile position and influence, the double standard used to diminish our contributions remains, and is perpetuated by the negative conversation which enters our consciousness every day as snark entertainment."
The "Bridget Jones's Baby" actress says we should focus on the "countless significant unprecedented current events affecting our world" instead of judging people by their looks. She concludes, "Maybe we could talk more about our many true societal challenges and how we can do better."
