“Real Bodies, Real Stories”: 15 Celebrities Who Used Honesty To Push Back Against Unrealistic Body Ideals

As a Disney child star of the 2000s, Hilary Duff spent her entire teenage and early adult years under the spotlight, at a time when celebrity diet culture was at its peak. 

Over the years, the Lizzie McGuire star has opened up about her struggles with body image issues. 

In 2017, Duff blasted bodyshamers in a lengthy Instagram post that accompanied a photo of herself in a swimsuit, holding her son in her arms.

“I am posting this on behalf of young girls, women, and mothers of all ages,” she said. “I'm enjoying a vacation with my son after a long season of sh*oting and being away from him for weeks at a time over those months.” 

“Since websites and magazines love to share 'celeb flaws' — well, I have them! My body has given me the greatest gift of my life: Luca, 5 years ago. I'm turning 30 in September, and my body is healthy and gets me where I need to go. Ladies, let's be proud of what we've got and stop wasting precious time in the day wishing we were different, better, and unflawed.”

Duff had her son, Luca Cruz, in 2012 with her ex-husband, retired NHL player Mike Comrie. She now has three daughters as well — Banks Violet, 7, Mae James, 4, and Townes Meadow, 2 — with now-husband Matthew Koma (Bair). 

While paparazzi culture has not disappeared, Duff lauded the current discourse around body positivity on Today with Jenna and Sheinelle a few years ago, saying she was glad that the “bullies are shamed now.”

“I came up in a time when paparazzi were taking pictures of your every move and zooming in on your cellulite,” she said. “You’re either too thin or too fat. You’re never just enough or right for people.”

In 2022, the actress talked about developing a "horrifying" eating dis*rder for a year when she was 17, as she spoke to Women's Health Australia about overcoming body dysmorphia earlier in her career.
 
She said in the interview that becoming a mother had been "powerful" for her, teaching her to accept her body. 

During a March 2026 appearance on wellness influencer Jay Shetty's podcast On Purpose, Duff said: "When I was a teenager, I was pretty confident, but also mixed with the insecurities of your teenhood and your early 20s.” 

“Of course, those normal things came up, and then on top of it I was dealing with people commenting on my body at a young age and starting to get photographed, and people asking you how many times you weigh yourself, or comparing you to people that were thinner than you or other girls in your line of work.”

Years before landing back-to-back multi-million-dollar projects, Zendaya stood up against unrealistic body standards as a 19-year-old. 

In 2015, she called out Modeliste Magazine for publishing an edited version of herself on one of their issue covers. She posted the retouched photo alongside the original, noting that her “hips and torso” were manipulated to look thinner. 

“These are the things that make women self-conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have,” the Euphoria actress said. “Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self-love. So I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side), and I love it.”

She said the change had shocked her, but thanked the magazine for pulling the edited photo and publishing the original version.

Modeliste Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Amy McCabe, said in a statement on Instagram that the retouched images were submitted to the outlet from “an independent editing company.”

A few months after this, Zendaya appeared as the cover girl for the spring issue of New You after the release of her single, Something New. 

“If there's any definition to being perfect, you're perfect at being yourself," she told the magazine when asked about body positivity. “There is no such thing as ugly.”

Pamela Anderson is a name long associated with glitz and glamor. From Playboy to Home Improvement to Baywatch, she established herself as a Hollywood siren pretty early on in her career. 

At one point, she admitted to undergoing cosmetic enhancements, but got disillusioned with the impact of the procedures in her later years.

In 2016, she told W Magazine that she regretted getting breast enlargement surgery.

“I know it sounds like a cliché, but happiness has a lot to do with beauty,” she said. “I actually like aging… Getting older isn’t the end. I know I have so much to look forward to.”

In 2023, she made headlines for going makeup-free at the Paris Fashion Week. 

“I am much more comfortable in my own skin, but I am also in an industry that really focuses on beauty,” she explained to Today. “I thought, ‘I’m going to challenge beauty.’”

The same year, Anderson admitted to People Magazine that she never considered herself pretty: “Probably because of my early s*xualization and my shame about it all, I didn’t want to feel that way. I didn’t like that I had any kind of qualities that were attracting the wrong kind of attention.”

Anderson previously talked about losing interest in makeup after the passing of her longtime makeup artist and friend, Alexis Vogel, in 2019.

Canadian actor Avan Jogia recently appeared in the new Amazon Prime Video show, 56 Days, co-starring Dove Cameron.

The eight-episode series, released on February 18, 2026, follows Oliver (Jogia) and Ciara (Cameron) as they meet at a supermarket and start a whirlwind romance. 56 days later, an unidentified body is found at Oliver’s apartment, deliberately decomposed.

Detectives Lee Reardon (Karla Souza) and Karl Connolly (Dorian Missick) investigate the homicide and reconstruct the couple's relationship over the past 56 days.

Jogia was required to film several shirtless scenes for the show, in which he was seen with a toned physique.

In an Instagram post, the actor revealed what it took to achieve the look of his body in those scenes.

“So, for a show like 56 Days (on @primevideo) where you are n*ked all the time and playing a type A insomniac Patrick Bateman, you have to work out a little bit,” he wrote. “Because that is what he would do." 

“So, I did that, and also didn’t eat burgers or drink wine. All very rare for me. This (and me n*ked on the show) are the fruits of my labor.” 

To bust a myth about filming bare-bodied scenes, Jogia posted a shirtless photo from the set, followed by a video showing how he looks when he is not actively working out to appear “shredded.”

“I feel like people who do this type of body work in shows are always like, ‘I ate rice and chicken and worked out a bunch,’ and they look like gods, and I don’t think that’s fair to people and probably bad for their brains.” 

Jogia was lauded by his followers and his girlfriend of two years, Halsey, for his honesty and transparency. 

“You are perfect every time, every way,” the singer commented. 

“We need more men like this in the world,” one user said. Another wrote, “It’s so cool that you’re keeping it so real.”

“We need more of this in 2026,” a third said. “Real skin, real bodies, real stories.”

Like most actresses who have spent decades in the entertainment industry, Teri Hatcher has faced body-shaming comments. Not only has Hatcher fired back multiple times, but she has vowed never to undergo plastic surgery.

In 2010, the Lois & Clark actress admitted to taking fillers or Botox but said she felt the “most beautiful” when she was her “authentic self.”

In 2019, after turning 55, Hatcher posted a picture of herself in a coffee-colored bikini, claiming that she was finally at peace with her appearance.

“This is my truth, and being in this 55-year-old body actually feels liberating,” she said. “Here’s the thing. I’ve finally figured out how to be comfortable in my own skin.”

In August 2025, she posted makeup-free, filter-free photos of her face in the setting sun.

“Here’s a no-filter s*ot of me facing the sun, and with it at my back,” she wrote in the caption. “Every line…a story of real human effort, successes, and flaws. Feel free to zoom in.”

“I first put my n*ked face out there in 2010—everyone told me I was crazy, but 15 years later, I’m still here, still saying it’s okay to be real.”

In October 2025, Hatcher appeared on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Show, hosted by Michael and Lauryn Bosstick, and called out celebrities who aren’t transparent about having cosmetic enhancements.
 
“Being a woman is hard...aging is hard, but I don’t love when people aren’t truthful about [getting cosmetic work done],” the actress said. “I respect your privacy, but the only reason is when you’re famous, and you lie, you’re sort of making the rest of us feel bad about ourselves, because we look at you and we go, ‘I guess I’m not drinking enough water,’ and that is unfair.”

“When I look in the mirror, and I think [about] what is lacking, what am I still struggling with, what would I like to be better at...how can I find peace...my answer is not a facelift. My answer to myself is internal work, it's intellectual work, it's emotional work.”

A few years ago, Bethenny Frankel went on a battle against beauty filters on social media apps that make people look different from how they really are. 

In July 2022, she answered a fan’s question on TikTok about how she managed to “stay so thin.”

She said she doesn’t exercise regularly anymore and participates in physical activities like surfing, snowboarding, and beach walking whenever she can. However, her priority for staying healthy is getting good sleep, then being happy, she said.

A month later, Frankel posted a side-by-side comparison of a regular photo and an edited one of herself in a blue swimsuit at a beach. In the edited one, her waist cinches more narrowly, and her breasts look bigger. 

“This is NOT what I look like, and you know that because I’m not vain and show you the real me,” The Real Housewives of New York star wrote in the caption. “But if I posted a version of this every day, you might start to believe that it might be. This is just how distorted this has all gotten.”

“Filtering is lying: it is deceptive. It makes women feel bad about themselves. It makes young girls insecure and obsessed with unattainable perfection. It makes middle-aged women and mothers feel insecure about themselves. It creates a false ideal for men.”

“It’s the opposite of inspirational,” she continued. “It’s destructive. It’s irresponsible. It’s insecure, and it’s inaccurate. There is a line between making an effort to look pretty and an outright falsehood.”

This post was shared shortly before she launched Bethenny Swimwear, a collection of bathing suits for “all shapes, all sizes.”

In September, Frankel posted another side-by-side comparison of a real photo and a filtered one — this time of her face. 

“Hey, it's me, your favorite filtered friend… just making myself look a little better, a little younger, so you think I look better than you,” she wrote in the post. “Doesn't that really build up your self-esteem?”

“More hair, less wrinkles, perfectly smooth skin, higher cheekbones, more defined eyebrows, smaller face, bigger lips… when does it end? The online world we live in is insane.”

In June 2025, when The View co-host Joy Behar said Frankel had “fake b**bs” after the latter’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit show in Miami, the Skinnygirl founder explained: “These are a lift from maybe 15 or 20 years ago. I had very large breasts in high school. They were just saggy, floppy, so this is actually a lift, Joy.”

“I actually feel sorry for Joy that she hasn’t lived her life or doesn’t seem to be living her life with any joy because you have to be really miserable to take a swipe at something that is literally self-deprecating,” Frankel further added.

Millie Bobby Brown has been in the spotlight since gaining international fame for Stranger Things, which inevitably means she has been picked apart for her appearance from time to time. 

In December 2022, Brown uploaded two selfies to her Instagram Stories — one with a filter that made her eyelashes longer and her skin smoother, and another unedited and without any filters — to make a point. 

Earlier that year, she told Allure that it was “really hard to be hated on” as a child actor when she did not even know herself well. 

In March 2025, Brown’s red-carpet appearances for her Netflix movie The Electric State sparked unsavory comments about her appearance. Many claimed she looked much older than her age, while others speculated she had cosmetic enhancements done to her face. 

Brown ripped into the critics in an Instagram post, naming and shaming those who wrote negatively about her physical features, including one who called her look a “mommy makeover.” 

“I started in this industry when I was 10 years old,” Brown wrote in the caption. “I grew up in front of the world, and for some reason, people can’t seem to grow with me. Instead, they act like I’m supposed to stay frozen in time, as I should still look the way I did on Stranger Things Season 1. And because I don’t, I’m now a target.” 

“This isn’t journalism, this is bullying,” she added.

In November 2025, Brown faced a fresh wave of criticism over her anatomy after appearing at a Stranger Things season 5 FYC event in a revealing black mesh gown. Some netizens said her breasts looked “saggy” and “deflated” at the event.

Around that time, Brown told British Vogue that she was “crying every day” because of the discourse around her appearance, and it made her “depressed” for several days. 

“I respect journalism. I love reading articles on my favorite people and hearing what they’re up to,” Brown said. “I understand that there’s paparazzi, even though it’s invasive, even though it feels like sh*t to me – I know that’s your job.” 

“But don’t, in your headline, slam me at the get-go. It is so wrong, and it is bullying, especially to young girls who are new to this industry and are already questioning everything about it.”

While promoting her 2023 movie Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Rachel McAdams opened up about the importance of accepting one’s body and its natural occurrences as they are. 

The movie is based on a Judy Blume coming-of-age novel that follows 11-year-old Margaret Simon as she navigates puberty, friendships, and her sense of identity.

In a 2018 interview with Bustle, McAdams revisited her viral photoshoot in which she posed with a breast pump while wearing Versace and Bulgari. 

“I love that juxtaposition of beauty, glam, fantasy, and then truth,” she said about the shoot, which took place just six months postpartum. 

For the Bustle interview itself, The Notebook actress requested her images be edited as minimally as possible, including keeping her armpit hair. 

“With this shoot, I’m wearing latex underwear,” she said about the Bustle shoot. “But I've had two children. This is my body, and I think that's so important to reflect back out to the world.”

Speaking about all the references to menstruation and the female anatomy in It’s Me, Margaret, McAdams emphasized in the Judy Blume Forever documentary on Amazon Prime Video how important it was to normalize the discourse around the topics. 

“It’s not just for girls to feel seen and heard but for boys, too,” she said. “It's to normalize something that is so normal. … The idea that the word ‘period’ might be banned in schools is — I can't wrap my brain around that.” 

“Knowledge is power, and the more knowledge you have of your body, the more power you have over your body.”

Florence Pugh has repeatedly spoken out against the rigid beauty standards imposed on actresses in Hollywood and has actively challenged these norms by refusing to comply. 

In a 2022 interview with The Telegraph, Pugh said that a studio boss asked her to lose weight for a lead role in a TV show that did not make it past the pilot stage.

“All the things that they were trying to change about me – whether it was my weight, my look, the shape of my face, the shape of my eyebrows – that was so not what I wanted to do, or the industry I wanted to work in,” she explained. 

In a 2023 conversation with Vogue, Pugh claimed that she had put her foot down early on in her career about not changing her appearance.

“I’m never losing weight to look fantastic for a role,” she said. “It’s more like, how would this character have lived? What would she be eating?”

This came months after she was dragged on social media for her sheer pink Valentino dress at the label’s Fall/Winter 2022-2023 fashion show in Rome. 

The Black Widow actress called out the critics in the Vogue interview: “What’s worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be. So many of you wanted to aggressively let me know how disappointed you were by my ‘tiny t*ts,’ or how I should be embarrassed by being so ‘flat-chested.’”

The same year, she explained to Elle U.K. that she was comfortable speaking about her body: “I speak the way I do about my body because I’m not trying to hide the cellulite on my thigh or the squidge in between my arm and my b**b: I would much rather lay it all out.”

In 2024, she told The Times that it was “exhausting for a young woman to just be in this industry.” 

She recalled the “godawful headlines” she saw about Keira Knightley’s body when the Atonement star was an upcoming actress, and that was when she decided not to “abide by those rules.”

Fitness influencer Emily Skye, who has over 2.5 million Instagram followers, had her first child, Mia, in December 2018. 

After Mia’s birth, Skye set an example by sharing how her body looked and her realistic postpartum fitness journey as she returned to the gym.

“For me, this whole ‘snap back’ idea is unrealistic — it’s taking me hard work, consistency, and patience,” Skye wrote. I’ve got a saggy belly, extra body fat, cellulite, stretch marks & I’ve lost a lot of muscle, but my abs are still under there when I flex my b*tt off, haha!”

She did the same after the birth of her son, Izaac, in 2020. This time, she called out those who criticized her appearance after Izaac’s birth.

“RIP fit body,”⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ “Yuck,” ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣“Your body is ruined⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣,” “So much cellulite!”⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ — these were some of the comments Skye claimed she received online. 

“It makes me sad when I hear people say terrible things about the way they look,” she said. “Love for yourself and your body isn’t easy, and it takes time to learn how to do it, but I believe it’s SO important.”
 
“Thank you, nasty people. Instead of bringing me down, you’ve only made me stronger, more determined, and more resilient.”

She posted a before-and-after video after regaining her previous level of fitness at the gym, with the caption: “To the A-holes who said I couldn’t do it, and that my body was ruined after having babies: It took time, but I DID IT.”

In April 2023, Colombian singer and songwriter Karol G called out GQ Magazine for publishing a Photoshopped cover of her. 

“My face doesn't look like that, my body doesn't look like that, and I feel very happy and comfortable with how I naturally look,” she wrote. 

“I appreciate the magazine's opportunity because I was very happy when they confirmed I would be on it, but despite making it clear that I was unhappy with the amount of editing, they did nothing about it, as if I needed all those changes to look good.”

“It's disrespectful to all the women who wake up every day wanting to feel comfortable in their own skin despite societal stereotypes,” she continued. 

This wasn’t the first time the musician spoke up against unrealistic beauty standards. 

In February 2023, she responded to a fan who criticized a photo in which her tummy was exposed: “It’s not about whether or not my body favors me, because well, that’s my body and that’s how it is.”

“Never let comments like these distort how beautiful you look…everybody is different…everyone is beautiful just the way they are.”

In a 2018 conversation with Billboard’s Latin Connection, Karol G said that she decided to take off her hair extensions and was content with her appearance: “Honestly, maybe I’m not as skinny as I’ve been at some point in my life, but I like how I look!”

In 2018, Halsey clapped back at an X user who reshared a photo of her in a strappy, body-hugging garment after the individual put a sticker on her armpit and asked, “What the hell is this?”

“It’s an armpit you’ve put a sticker over,” Halsey answered. “Not sure what else there is here to explain?” 

She also reposted a tweet from Charli XCX, who said that she hasn’t “shaved my legs for ages.”

The same year, she was honored at the Endometriosis Foundation of America‘s annual Blossom Ball. Speaking about her battle with the menstrual condition, Halsey said she could not pretend to be “perfect” just because she was a pop star.

“Sometimes I’m bloated, I’m on an I.V., I’m sick, I’m on medicine, and I’m backstage, terrified that I’m going to bleed through my clothes in the middle of my show,” she added. “That’s the reality of it.”

Halsey, whose real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, goes by she/they pronouns. 

In October 2021, the Colors singer decided to keep things real by sharing her post-partum appearance on Instagram after giving birth to her first child, Ender Ridley. 

“I did SNL two nights ago, and a lot of people were quick to say how good I looked. That was a weird feeling,” she said. “I did SNL two nights ago, and a lot of people were quick to say how good I looked. That was a weird feeling. I uphold myself to honesty to the point of oversharing sometimes, but this feels important.”

Three years before Vogue Italia named her as one of the world’s top plus-size supermodels, Tess Holliday started the #effyourbeautystandards movement on Instagram. 

Several years before that, she was rejected at a casting call for plus-size models in Atlanta, where she was told she would be "lucky" to do print advertising or catalog work.

In March 2014, Holliday became the first model over size 18 to work with Monif Clarke's clothing line. Next, she worked with Torrid and H&M and did a photoshoot with Marie Claire UK. 

After she gained her fame, Holliday used her platform to advocate for body positivity. 

“When young girls Google the term model, the first women that pop up are Gigi [Hadid] and Kendall [Jenner]. I think it’s really important for all young girls to see themselves represented in fashion so they don’t feel alone in the world.”

In August 2015, Holliday demanded a boycott of Project Harpoon, a platform that shared Photoshopped images of her and other public figures, such as Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy, making them appear slimmer.

In September 2015, she called out Victoria's Secret for their limited plus-size clothing options.

“I don’t understand why it’s not okay to be plus-size,” Holliday told The Cut in 2016. “I don’t know why people hate that phrase.” 

After turning 40 in July 2025, Holliday posted a TikTok video urging her followers not to be worried about aging. 

“It is okay to age,” she said. “Forty sounds so scary, but I haven’t had any trepidation about turning forty. Pointing to her facial features, she added, “I have my first little wrinkles right here when I smile. I have a little age spot here, sun spot. Your skin ages. I have, you know, little bumps and divots and all of the things.”

Two months later, she told Teen Vogue’s Brittney McNamara at the outlet’s annual summit that people pressured her online to use semaglutide injections to lose weight. She had “no excuse” not to amid the “age of Oz*mpic,” Holliday allegedly was told multiple times. 

“I'm like, that is not how it works,” she responded to the comments. “Also, like, can I live? Let me just live.”

In February 2026, the model and activist posted a TikTok video in a neon-green bikini, revealing she had shed some weight. “POV: you lost weight but never made it your personality,” she wrote over the clip.

“Imagine calling self-acceptance toxic. Couldn’t be me,” Holliday added in the caption. “We brought back #effyourbeautystandards because this message still matters. 13 years after I created the movement, we still need the reminder. Maybe now more than ever.”  

Chrissy Teigen has often faced hateful comments about her body online, and she hit back at every opportunity. 

When one fan reacted to her 2018 Emmy Awards look by wondering if she was pregnant again, the model fired back: “I just had a baby, but thank you for being soooo respectful.”

The comments came right after she gave birth to her second child, Miles Theodore, with John Legend. Before this, she had a daughter, Luna Simone, in 2016. 

In 2019, an X user shared a paparazzi photo of her in a hot tub with Legend and her son. The poster made fun of Legend’s frowning expression, insinuating that the singer was making that face while staring at Teigen’s body. 

“Everyone so used to a*s shots and photoshopped Instagrams,” Teigen wrote back. “I’ve had no a*s forever. Is this new news to some of you?”

In 2020, after receiving similar comments on a video of herself in a black bathing suit, Teigen retorted: “Everyone used to surgically enhanced curves. I’ve been a square my whole life, and let me tell you, it’s paid off nicely in many ways!”

Teigen has not only been vocal about being comfortable in her body but also about the physical changes she has experienced since becoming a mother. She has often posted photos of her stretch marks and cellulite. 

In 2020, after she lost a baby at 20 weeks due to a pregnancy complication, she shared a picture wearing a dress. 

“This is me and my body, just yesterday,” she said. “Even though I’m no longer pregnant, every glance in the mirror reminds me of what could have been.”

“I have no idea why I still have this bump, honestly. It’s frustrating. But I’m proud of where this entire journey took my body and mind in other ways.”

Once a teen heartthrob for playing Troy Bolton in the High School Musical series, Zac Efron segued into drama, comedy, and action in his adulthood. In 2017, he starred in Baywatch, the film version of the popular television series of the same name, alongside Dwayne Johnson.

Directed by Seth Gordon, the movie required him to achieve a ripped physique with an eight-pack and almost no body fat. Later, when his appearance changed, Efron received comments criticizing him for gaining weight. Some even called it a “dad bod.”

In reality, the Baywatch look would be nearly impossible to maintain, Efron revealed in a 2022 interview with Men’s Health. He also shared that he used a powerful furosemide diuretic medication to achieve that physique. 

“That Baywatch look, I don’t know if that’s really attainable. There’s just too little water in the skin. Like, it’s fake; it looks CGI’d.” Efron said. “And that required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve. So I don’t need to do that. I much prefer to have an extra, you know, 2-3% body fat.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns that Lasix, if given in excessive amounts, can lead to a “profound diuresis with water and electrolyte depletion.”

On top of using Lasix, he overtrained and underslept, and developed mental health issues while preparing for the role. 

“I started to develop insomnia, and I fell into a pretty bad depression, for a long time,” Efron admitted. “Something about that experience burned me out. I had a really hard time recentering.”

Medical professionals chalked a lot of the issues up to taking “too many diuretics.”

Efron said that his decision to open stemmed from letting people know — those who were trying to obtain his Baywatch body — how devastating the process was and the ill effects it had on his health. 

In 2021, when netizens noticed the difference in Efron’s face in an Earth Day special clip on Bill Nye’s show, many, including his own mother, speculated that he had undergone cosmetic surgery. 

Efron came clean with the truth in a Men’s Health interview that his face changed after a brutal accident in which he fell in his house while running around in socks, hit his chin against the granite corner of a fountain, and lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he found his chin bone had come loose. During the recovery, the muscles on the inside of his face and jaw grew bigger, Efron claimed: “The masseters just grew. They just got really, really big.”