Renee Zellweger has finally broken her silence on the surgery rumors that proliferated on the web following a rare red carpet appearance at the 2014 ELLE ‘s 21st Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration in Beverly Hills. And she did it by pulling a Jennifer Aniston.
In a powerful essay published via the Huffington Post , Zellweger, 47, debunked tabloid pieces claiming that she underwent plastic surgery on her face. The Bridget Jones’ Baby actress also wrote in great length about bigger issues many women, especially those working in the entertainment business, are facing today.
“In October 2014, a tabloid newspaper article reported that I’d likely had surgery to alter my eyes,” she pens. “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.”
Renee Zellweger: We can do better than low-brow tabloid media https://t.co/eTHlq9hnzP pic.twitter.com/lf1fLWIp8Z
— HuffPost Ent (@HuffPostEnt) August 5, 2016
Renee also briefly mentioned an article written by Variety writer Owen Gleiberman entitled “Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?,” using it as an example of how tabloid media continually diminishes and humiliates women celebrities based on a stereotypical view of how women should act and look like.
“Not that it’s anyone’s business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes,” Zellweger continued. “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.”
Renee maintained that she did not write the essay to specifically address the online bullying, but because she feels inclined to “make some claim on the truths of my life.”
“It’s no secret a woman’s worth has historically been measured by her appearance,” Zellweger said. “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.”
Man paid to review ‘Bridget Jones’ Baby’ writes rant about Renée Zellweger’s face, instead. https://t.co/vlmU8yBTIA pic.twitter.com/Ky4bpXmSRo
— someecards (@someecards) July 16, 2016
Zellweger, instead, made a suggestion that she feels would effect positive changes in society and address the roadblocks that stymie societal progress, and that is by focusing on “countless significant unprecedented current events affecting our world.”
“What if immaterial tabloid stories, judgments and misconceptions remained confined to the candy jar of low-brow entertainment and were replaced in mainstream media by far more important, necessary conversations?”
Zellweger maintained that she feels “lucky” to have chosen a “creative life” and loves the opportunity to do work that is as “satisfying” as it is “meaningful.” Renee said that she lives a “blessed existence,” which makes the challenges that come with being a celebrity worth the trouble.
Renee also discussed in great length how “snark entertainment” contributes to the perpetuation of double standards that only result to the further degradation of women in society.
In concluding her essay, Renee challenges the media.
“Maybe we could talk more about our many true societal challenges and how we can do better.”
Before the Huffington Post published Zellweger’s piece, numerous women in Hollywood, including Rose McGowan, rushed to her defense. In her July piece for Hollywood Reporter , McGowan wrote, “Renée Zellweger is a human being, with feelings, with a life, with love and with triumphs and struggles, just like the rest of us.”
https://twitter.com/Aura27Meza/status/760145230439985153
“How dare you bully a woman who has done nothing but try to entertain people like you?” Rose added.
Way to go, Renee Zellweger!
[Photo by Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Photo]
