Warning: This post mentions body dysmorphia and substance abuse.
The decision to get cosmetic work done is personal, but in Hollywood, there can be a lot of pressure surrounding it — especially for women. While they may be pleased with the results at first, some celebs who get work done end up regretting it because of the side effects.
Here are 14 celebs who've been extremely candid about the negative side effects of their cosmetic procedures:
1. On a 2024 episode of her podcast Workin' On It, Meghan Trainor said that, after getting a lip flip (where filler's injected above your top lip), she "cannot smile anymore."
2. In 2022, Linda Evangelista told People that, three months after getting CoolSculpting, she began to notice bulges around her bra, thighs, and chin, which grew, hardened, and numbed. After attempting to "fix" it herself with extreme dieting and exercising, she saw a doctor, who diagnosed her with Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (where the "fat freezing" process causes the fat cells to get larger and thicker).
3. In a 2024 TikTok, Simone Biles said that, for her 27th birthday, she got "baby Botox" in her T-zone, but she "did not like it." She said, "That's because I would be, like, standing at practice, and my eyebrow would be slowly going up..."
4. In a 2015 HuffPost essay about his experiences with body dysmorphia, Modern Family actor Reid Ewing said that, starting at 19, he began getting multiple cosmetic procedures, such as cheek and chin implants, with four different doctors. He said, "Each procedure would cause a new problem that I would have to fix with another procedure."
5. In 2009, Heidi Montag infamously underwent ten cosmetic procedures in a single day. Four years later, she removed her breast implants because "they were so heavy they were falling through the skin."
6. In 2023, The Bachelorette Season 16 star Clare Crawley told ABC News that, after getting breast implants, she got rashes across her body. For the next eight years, she continued to experience more health issues that her doctors couldn't diagnose.
7. In a 2020 Instagram post, Ashley Tisdale said, " Years ago I underwent breast enhancement surgery. Prior to the surgery, I constantly felt my body was less than, and thought this change would make me feel more whole and more secure about myself. And for a short period of time…it did. But little by little I began struggling with minor health issues that just were not adding up—food sensitivities as well as gut issues...that I thought could be caused by my implants. So, last winter I decided to undergo implant removal."
8. In 1996, former Playboy model Karen McDougal got breast implants. However, in 2003, she began developing allergies, adrenal and thyroid issues, and frequent bouts of sickness. In 2017, she told People, "[Last January] I started having vision disturbances, blacking out, dizzy spells. Then July came, and it just became so bad that I was passing out, and I was afraid to leave the house. In October 2016, I was on bed rest. I couldn't drive, I was having panic attacks, I couldn't see. I had hearing sensitivity, I couldn't stand noise, I couldn't tolerate light, I had joint pain, brain fog — the list goes on and on."
9. In a 2016 Facebook post, Crystal Hefner said that her breast implants "slowly poisoned" her. She said, "Intolerance to foods and beverages, unexplained back pain, constant neck and shoulder pain, cognitive dysfunction (brain fog, memory loss), stunted hair growth, incapacitating fatigue, burning bladder pain, low immunity, recurring infections and problems with my thyroid and adrenals."
10. On a 2011 episode of Good Morning America, Tori Spelling said, "I got my boobs done in my early 20s, and if I had known it would or could possibly impact production of milk, I would never had had them done."
11. In a 2023 TikTok video, JoJo said, "A few months ago, maybe three months ago, right before I came to New York, I got my lip filler dissolved because it had started to migrate. Huh? I didn’t know it could do that. I thought it was just going to 'metabolize' and dissolve. Like, I thought it was just going to go away over time, you know? No, it got, like, lumpy underneath [my upper lip], and I would run my tongue along it and be like, ‘What the fuck is going on?’"
12. Flipping Out's Jeff Lewis decided to dissolve his decades-old lip filler after his dermatologist refused to do any work on him until they "fixed" his lips. During a 2022 appearance on Sirius XM, he said, "What happened was the filler [from] 20 years ago…it migrated into both sides of my upper lip and created, like, two balls."
13. When Lisa Rinna was 25, seeing Barbara Hershey's lips in Beaches inspired her to get permanent fillers in hers. However, 10 years later, the silicone caused hard and bumpy scar tissue, then 12 more years later, she felt she "was crazy to even touch them in the first place." So, she found a surgeon who could reduce the volume and reconstruct her upper lip.
14. And finally, in 2021, Jamie Lee Curtis told Fast Company, "I tried plastic surgery and it didn’t work. It got me addicted to Vicodin. I’m 22 years sober now."
Have you ever had a negative experience with cosmetic procedures or a side effect you think more people should be aware of? Share your experiences in the comments.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text “NEDA” to 741741.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.