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Denise Richards has opened up about her revolutionary facelift. And more celebrities need to follow her example and embrace that level of transparency.
The former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star, 55, revealed in a new interview with Allure that she underwent surgery eight months ago. At first, she said, she was worried about what people would think if it didn’t work out.
“I wanted things to go back to how they were,” she told the outlet. “It was scary.”
Richards had breast implants in her late teens and then had a second surgery, but this was her first major cosmetic surgery on her face.
“I’ve been in the public eye since my 20s, so people know what I look like. Having plastic surgery is not something I can hide,” she continued. “It’s been day and night,” she added of the facelift. “It’s really shocking.”
Mental health experts previously told USA TODAY that transparency regarding celebrity cosmetic surgery is critical. By being vocal and honest about the changes they’ve made to their bodies, celebrities like Richards can curb unrealistic beauty expectations and give fans a healthier perspective on body image.
Why celebrities should be transparent about cosmetic surgery
Experts say celebrities taking cosmetic surgery seriously could benefit fans, who often look to celebrities when analyzing their own self-image. A 2014 study found that people who “worshipped” celebrities were more likely to have “concerns about body image and be more likely to undergo cosmetic surgery” and to suffer from poor mental health.
Other celebrities who have opened up about their choices include Megan Fox, who revealed on her podcast Call Her Daddy in 2024 that she had her breasts reshaped when she was 21 or 22 and that she had them done after breastfeeding her children. She also said she had a nose job in her early 20s.
Kaley Cuoco has also been praised for speaking candidly about cosmetic surgery, and Dolly Parton famously said, “If something’s baggy or saggy or dragging, I’m going to push it in, suck it in, or pick it out.” Courteney Cox admitted that she looked “very strange having had injections and things done to her face that she would never do now,” and Sia revealed in October 2023 that she had a facelift, followed by liposuction. In a 2022 American Society of Plastic Surgeons article, Amy Schumer was praised for opening up about liposuction after undergoing surgery to treat endometriosis.
Experts agree that plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures are nothing to be ashamed of, and that celebrity transparency is key to dismantling unhealthy beauty norms. Embracing such vulnerability reminds people, especially young girls, that they shouldn’t have been born with the plump lips and chiseled jaws we see in the media.
When celebrities hide their work, they run the risk of fooling people into thinking that certain aesthetic features are naturally achieved.
Dr. Daniel Barrett, a Beverly Hills orthopedic surgeon, previously told USA TODAY: “A lot of celebrities are naturally good-looking, but a lot of them have jobs, and when they can’t be honest about that, I think they’re doing something unethical because they’re in the spotlight,” she previously told USA TODAY. Unlike the average person who can benefit and take advantage of keeping their body modifications private.
“They… have a moral obligation to be transparent about what they’ve done to achieve a certain look,” Barrett added.
Misleading the public about plastic surgery could cause problems
Hiding cosmetic surgery can have a negative impact on people’s mental and physical health and can have long-term effects, experts added. Pressure to be perfect can also contribute to eating disorders.
“The psychological pressure to meet society’s beauty standards can be difficult to deal with, especially since it can make you feel like you’re never good enough,” Naomi Torres McKee, a clinical psychologist and chief clinical officer at the Mental Health Coalition, previously told USA TODAY.
Torres Mackey called these beauty comparisons “an unfair competition that can’t be won,” adding that despite the push for body positivity, “hiding all your flaws at all costs” is still the norm. She also said that “you have to be prepared for a certain degree of vulnerability” in order to accept cosmetic work.
“It’s brave to do something that has the potential to help others,” she added.
Instead of shaming others or our own looks, we should prioritize changing the conversation around beauty and body image, Elizabeth Daniels, a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and director of the Appearance Research Center at UWE Bristol, previously told USA TODAY.
Contributors: Anna Kaufman, Katie Camello, Morgan Hynes, Jenna Liu
