Brooke Shields revealed that her surgeon performed an irreversible intimate procedure without her consent.
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The supermodel likened the intrusive operation to sexual assault in her upcoming memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman.
During a visit to her gynecologist, Brooke's doctor recommended labia reduction surgery after she mentioned experiencing discomfort, bleeding, and chafing.
Highlights
- Brooke Shields expressed feeling "shame" after a surgeon performed a procedure without her consent.
- The supermodel underwent the surgery when she was in her forties, her new memoir reveals.
- Brooke said the surgeon was "legitimately proud" of the "invasive" procedure.
Brooke Shields claims her surgeon performed a "bonus" procedure without her consent
Image credits: John Nacion/Getty Images
"Of course, it's not covered by insurance because it's considered cosmetic, which is very interesting. The last time I did check, I did not want to be a p*rn star," she told Us Weekly in an interview published on Wednesday (January 8).
Trigger warning: sexual assault. Her surgeon later revealed during a post-op checkup that he had also performed a vaginal rejuvenation (or vaginal tightening) while she was under the knife.
"He informed me that he threw in a little bonus," Brooke told the outlet about the "irreversible" procedure.
"It felt like such an invasion—such a bizarre, like, r*pe of some kind."
Image credits: Amazon
The Beverly Hills plastic surgeon was "legitimately proud" when he explained that he had "thrown in a little twofer," the Blue Lagoon actress recalled, saying the revelations left her "dumbfounded."
"Nothing pointed toward this need to be tighter or smaller or firmer or younger, especially there."
Vaginal rejuvenation is defined by the NIH as a range of corrective treatments "to decrease the average diameter of the vagina."
Brooke had agreed to labia reduction surgery but the surgeon also performed a vaginal rejuvenation procedure
Image credits: Kristina Bumphrey/Getty Images
People get vaginal rejuvenation procedures to address different issues, including vaginal looseness, excess dryness, painful intercourse, and loss of sensation and satisfaction during intercourse.
These procedures can be done for cosmetic reasons or to solve age-related problems, as per the Cleveland Clinic.
Feeling "shame" and "anger" about the unwanted modification to her body, Brooke struggled to tell her husband, producer Chris Henchy, what happened "for the longest time."
Two decades after the invasive surgery, she still hasn't taken legal action. "I thought, I don't want anybody else telling me what I have to do," expressed the 59-year-old star.
Image credits: ABC News
In her memoir, available on January 14, she apologizes to readers who might find the story "too graphic or simply TMI" but emphasizes the importance of coming forward about the abuse to protect women's health.
"I'd be lying if I said I'm not embarrassed to share this very intimate information," the actress admits.
"But, if we are to change the way we approach and talk about women's health, then we need to bring up the uncomfortable but very real issues."
The revelations were made in the supermodel's new memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old
Image credits: ABC News
Image credits: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images
Brooke's career has been marked by many instances of people deciding on her body for her.
She began working as a model when she was just 11 months old. Aged 11, she starred in the controversial film Pretty Baby, in which she played a child who is raised in a brothel by her prostitute mother. The movie contained scenes in which Brooke appeared undressed.
"I was such a naïve, innocent child. I wasn't Lolita. I didn't have that precocious understanding of my sexuality," the supermodel reflected in 2014 about the role, which her agent mother, Teri Shields, had secured for her.
She said the plastic surgeon was "proud" when he revealed what he had done during a post-op checkup
Image credits: brookeshields
In her documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, released in 2023, Brooke revealed she was r*ped by a powerful Hollywood executive when she was in her twenties.
The star said she was assaulted shortly after graduating from college in 1987 and chose not to reveal the abuser's identity.
After attending Princeton, she had dinner with a man she knew to talk about potential projects, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Image credits: brookeshields
The man then allegedly convinced her to go to his hotel and offered to call her a cab home.
At the hotel room, he disappeared for a while, and Brooke picked up a pair of binoculars he owned. She was watching a volleyball game out the window when he unexpectedly returned to the room without his clothes on.
"I put the binoculars down, and he's right on me. Just like, was wrestling, I was afraid I'd get choked out or something," she described.
The Blue Lagoon actress said the unwanted procedure felt like "an invasion"
Image credits: brookeshields
The model continued: "So, I didn't fight that much. I didn't. I just absolutely froze. I thought one 'No' should've been enough, and I just thought, 'Stay alive and get out,' and I just shut it out.
"God knows I knew how to be disassociated from my body. I'd practiced that."
Image credits: brookeshields
Her new memoir is described as an "exploration of aging that flips the script on the idea of what it means for a woman to grow older," according to its synopsis.
Brooke reveals that the passage of time has brought her a sense of freedom, and she feels more "empowered and confident" now than she did in the early years of her career.
"So proud of her for coming forward," a reader commented
