What happened to Linda Evangelista?
At the age of 16, Evangelista got into modelling. She was spotted after she participated in the Miss Teen Niagara beauty pageant. Later on, she joined the aforementioned supermodels in a George Michael music video. That was just the start of her lengthy and admirable modelling career.
She would go on to become one of the most influential models of all time, appearing in over 700 magazine covers. Her hypnotizing blue eyes and iconic stare, often described as “feline” as she boldly stalked the runways in the 1990s are unforgettable. At the height of her career, she was famously quoted for saying she wouldn’t get out of bed for less than a $10,000 paycheck.
No one guessed that the reason she started keeping a low profile in recent years was so shocking. Evangelista rarely posted pictures of herself on social media. In the numbered posts she shared, she always kept her face hidden or obscured by a deliberately placed hat or headscarf.
In September 2021, she revealed to the world a traumatizing truth. After a cosmetic procedure gone wrong, the supermodel has been left brutally deformed and “permanently disfigured.”
In a post on social media, the now 56-year old model shared the side effects she suffers from on a daily basis after going under the knife five years ago. The surgery? It’s a non-surgical procedure that removes fat called CoolSculpting, and what happened is more horrifying than anyone ever imagined.
This comes across as more of a surprise, especially since CoolSculpting is reaching renowned status with celebrities such as Sarah Michelle Gellar have raved about it. To quote Gellar, “I had had such a positive experience with the procedure [Coolsculpting®]...Coolsculpting is the Number 1 product for body contouring and there have been over 8 million treatments performed worldwide to date, making it increasingly popular amongst celebrities. It’s pain-free, can be done in your lunch break…”
What CoolSculpting does is use cold temperatures in order to reduce fat deposits in areas of the body. However, in Linda Evangelist’s horrifying case, the procedure ended up increasing fat production instead, leaving her permanently disfigured and left to hide from the public.
She only came out with her story with a purpose: to seek revenge from the makers of CoolSculpture. She said, “PAH has not only destroyed my livelihood, it has sent me into a cycle of deep depression, profound sadness, and the lowest depths of self-loathing. In the process, I have become a recluse.”
So the 90s fashion icon is raising a lawsuit. She says, “I am moving forward to rid myself of my shame, and going public with my story. I'm so tired of living this way…I would like to walk out my door with my head held high, despite not looking like myself any longer.”
The lawsuit details exactly what Evangelista went through. Within a few months of the surgery, she developed “hard, bulging, painful masses under her skin in those areas.”
In June 2016, she received a diagnosis of PAH, which stands for paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, a rare side effect of cryolipolysis.
Between 2015 and 2016, to fix the side effects, she underwent several procedures, trying anything to reduce the fat that developed on her back, abdomen, thigh, flanks, and chin. Corrective surgery didn’t work.
Zeltiq, those behind CoolSculpting, recommended a doctor to her that performed body liposuctions. The result? It was a failure and resulted in scarring.
The lawsuit further explains “Ms. Evangelista was promised a more contoured appearance; instead, the target fat cells actually increased in number and size and formed hard, bulging masses under her skin.”
It also says, “Ms. Evangelista enjoyed a wildly successful and lucrative modeling career from 1984 through 2016, until she was permanently injured and disfigured by Zeltiq’s CoolSculpting System.”
Now, Evangelista is finally seeking retribution. Her lawsuit demanded a total of a whopping $50 million in damages both for lost income for her modelling career and for emotional distress caused by the procedures.
She says she is now unemployable as a model. And ever since 2016, she hasn’t been able to earn anything from modeling.
The quality of her life also dramatically decreases, along with her body and career.
In an emotional statement, she said, “I have been left, as the media described, 'unrecognizable.”
Apparently, Evangelista has particularly bad luck. The sickening side effects she suffered from have been reported in just 0.0051% of the 1.5 million CoolSculpting procedures that have taken place around the world.
After bravely sharing her shocking story, she was met with an abundance of supportive comments from fans and fellow fashion industry icons. To share their sympathy and offer support, comments were overwhelmingly positive.
#LindaEvangelista #whathappened
