Renee Zellweger slams media gossip on her looks

CEBU, Philippines - In a lengthy op-ed with Huffington Post titled “We Can Do Better,” Oscar-winning actress Renée Zellweger slammed media coverage of her appearance back in 2014 and the double standard that female celebrities face in the public eye.

“I am lucky. Choosing a creative life and having the opportunity to do satisfying work that is sometimes meaningful is a blessed existence and worth the price paid in the subsequent challenges of public life. Sometimes it means resigning to humiliation, and other times, understanding when silence perpetuates a bigger problem,” the “Bridget Jones’s Baby” actress began.

“I am not writing today because I have been publicly bullied or because the value of my work has been questioned by a critic whose ideal physical representation of a fictional character originated 16 years ago, over which he feels ownership, I no longer meet. I’m writing because to be fair to myself, I must make some claim on the truths of my life, and because witnessing the transmutation of tabloid fodder from speculation to truth is deeply troubling.”

Zellweger, 47, further explained: “Not that it’s anyone’s business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes.”

The star admitted that while, “It’s no secret a woman’s worth has been historically measured by her appearance,” our society has “taken for granted that women are standard bearers in all realms of high profile position and influence.”

Zellweger concluded her essay with these questions: “Maybe we could talk more about why we seem to collectively share an appetite for witnessing people diminished and humiliated with attacks on appearance and character? Maybe we could talk more about our many true societal challenges and how we can do better?” (FREEMAN)