They called Demi Moore 'toned.' She's barely recognizable. | Opinion
In a world where drugs like Ozempic make it easier than ever to lose weight, the new pressure seems to be that simply being slim is no longer enough.
Ingrid JacquesI was recently scrolling through social media when something startling caught my eye.
It was two photographs of actress Demi Moore, though at first, she was barely recognizable. Even more confusing was the New York Post headline accompanying the images.
“Demi Moore’s toned arms take center stage on Cannes Film Festival 2026 red carpet,” it proclaimed, praising her “fit figure.”
What I saw, however, were not toned arms but skeletal ones. Rather than looking fit, Moore appeared emaciated.
Among celebrities, Moore is far from alone in her shrinking figure. Kelly Osbourne, Ariana Grande and Olivia Wilde, among others, have all generated buzz in recent months for their increasingly gaunt appearances.
When Wilde was promoting a new film in late April, for example, her appearance generated “health concern buzz” over her cadaverous appearance.
What happened to body positivity?
This trend has caught my attention for several reasons.
It wasn’t long ago that the “body positivity” movement was in full swing, insisting it was possible to be “healthy at any size.” Plus-sized models were everywhere, fitness stores showcased much larger mannequins. “Fat acceptance” became its own book genre.
Of course, it was never true that health is safe at any size. The rise of popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs has helped expose that fiction, offering many people a relatively easy way to shed excess weight.
Yet everything comes with risks. In a world where drugs like Ozempic make it easier than ever to lose weight, the new pressure seems to be that simply being slim is no longer enough. To stand out, one must push thinness to the limits.
The cultural whiplash from one extreme to another, from “body positivity” to what might now be called “skeletal chic,” is jarring. Both send unhealthy messages.
“We have now gone so far the other way that it is considered ‘body-shaming’ to say a lot of women have taken appetite suppression too far,” writes U.K.-based journalist Hadley Freeman, who has written candidly about anorexia and her own struggles.
That’s not to say GLP-1s can’t be life-changing for many people. For figures like Oprah Winfrey, they have helped address a lifelong struggle with weight.
'Put down the measuring stick' is good advice
Our culture, however, has a difficult time resisting extremes. I’ve written before about how plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures are increasingly leaving women, and men too, looking almost unrecognizable.
I certainly have no inside knowledge about whether Hollywood figures like Moore or Osbourne are using weight-loss drugs. But however they are achieving their gaunt aesthetic, the broader result is the same.
It’s unhealthy for them, and it’s unhealthy for the countless people who still look to celebrities as the standard bearers of beauty.
Last year, when Moore won a Golden Globe for best actress for “The Substance” – ironically, a body horror film about a former actress driven to extreme measures in pursuit of youth – she delivered a genuinely moving acceptance speech.
“In those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough or pretty enough or skinny enough or successful enough, or basically just not enough, I had a woman say to me, ‘Just know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.’”
It’s advice Moore, and many of today’s celebrities, would do well to remember.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques