Sometimes celebrities and public figures spark rumors about having work done due to subtle tweaks to their appearance; other times they have people wondering if they are the same person due to dramatic changes.
Actress Erin Moriarty recently fell into the latter category after she posted photos on social media that seemed to show off more augmented features.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles to discuss the societal pressure on young women to uphold certain unrealistic standards of beauty and the “social illness” of plastic surgery.
Before and After
Moriarty is an actress best known for her role as Starlight in the series The Boys. The 29 year old made headlines earlier this week due to pictures she shared on Instagram that had people doing a double take.
Moriarty was known to have a rounder face and softer features, as you can see in the picture above from 2019. “She is a very beautiful girl,” Megyn said. “So beautiful that she was becoming a very famous Hollywood actress.”
Her latest photos, however, seem to show a noticeably more angular nose and jawline. Her brows also appear to be more arched, while her lips and cheeks look augmented. “She’s got the Kim Kardashian lips, she’s made her nose so skinny it looks like a pencil now, she’s got like… huge cheekbones,” Megyn said.
While some have speculated that the changes could be the result of makeup, lighting, or aging, others have suggested injectables like Botox and filler and even a rhinoplasty are to blame.
‘Social Illness’ of Plastic Surgery
In Megyn’s view, Moriarity went from a “nice, beautiful, natural gal” to someone who looks unnatural – and she is not alone. “More and more young women are doing this,” she said. “It’s not about an objection to plastic surgery, it’s about an obsession with turning yourself into this fake version of yourself.”
That trend, Megyn said, is “extremely upsetting” and potentially indicative of deeper issues. “I find it like a sign of mental illness,” she shared. “I really want to get in the heads of these young girls and say, ‘Please don’t do this.'”
Knowles believes is not just the result of “an individual mental illness” but rather “a social illness” that has us living in “hyperreality.” In this state, appearances have almost become caricatures. “It’s a result of all of these bizarre fads,” he said. “‘Oh, women with fuller lips are more attractive than women with thinner lips.’ Okay, now we’re gonna balloon our lips out so that they take up half of our face. ‘Oh, women with more curves are more attractive than pencil-shaped women.’ Okay, well, now we’re going to take it completely out of proportion and it becomes grotesque and ghastly.”
Megyn admitted that, at first glance, she didn’t think the pictures of Moriarty were real. “I thought it was just an AI-generated face… but apparently it’s real,” she lamented. “She’s done this to herself.”
‘Something Is Happening to Us’
While Megyn said she is “not against plastic surgery,” she is against the “extreme” application of it that leads to people looking like “a plastic Barbie version of a Kardashian.”
She pointed to recent photos of Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez as an example. “I would be lying if I didn’t say my whole family stopped and looked at the latest pictures of her,” she said. “I don’t know what she’s done to herself, but she looks nothing like she used to.”
The 54 year old posted the picture of herself in a form-fitting, sheer ensemble in honor of Bezos’ birthday. “I feel like we’re losing something as a society,” Megyn said. “I don’t want my daughter looking at that, and I don’t want my sons looking at it either.”
Ultimately, she hopes change is on the horizon. “Something is happening to us, and I don’t think it’s healthy,” she concluded. “I just really hope this isn’t the truth for my daughter when she gets older.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Knowles by tuning in to episode 704 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.