Hollywood is known for being the epitome of beauty standards all around the world, one pattern has become increasingly apparent: the epidemic of celebrities looking too skinny for their health. So what’s up with Hollywood? This could possibly be because of the popularization of Ozempic (a drug meant for adults with type 2 diabetes that is used to diet and can assist with weight loss) with public figures such as comedian Amy Schumer and actress Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) using it.
While it’s only a prescription drug, it’s easier for celebrities to obtain simply because of status, but doctors have become aware of the issue by only prescribing it to those who meet a certain criteria (BMI, health history, etc).
This said, it makes Ozempic all the more desirable to the common people simply because celebrities have made it so popular. What’s behind these celebrities’ desires to be so skinny all of a sudden?
Up until the recent return of the 2000s figure, it was a big trend for women to have curvier bodies with icons such as Kim Kardashian and more undergoing plastic surgery to enhance these curves and have an unattainable physique that was very hard to achieve naturally.
Beside this, the recent fashion trends have made it clear that the 2000s style is officially back. However, it’s almost as if the toxic 2000s culture has come back too. Around 25 years ago (as opposed to the 2010s ideal curvy figure), being dangerously skinny was the biggest trademark of being beautiful. It didn’t matter how pretty a girl could be as long as her weight on a scale was within a specific range.
The normalization of eating disorders made it that much harder for girls to feel confident in their bodies. Since the style included low-rise jeans and revealing clothing, it was normal back then for girls to go through desperate measures just so they could fit into the idea of what a “2000s it girl” should be: skinny.
An example of this is 2000s icon Mischa Barton. One of the most popular shows of the 2000s was The OC, with Mischa Barton starring as one of the main characters. During this time she admits how being under the public eye in this time period was exceedingly challenging, with the media criticizing her body constantly saying she was “too big”, even though she was slim and healthy, but it was still not enough for the 2000s standard.
This caused Mischa to face intense scrutiny over her weight’s fluctuation, with articles being published constantly by tabloids. This harsh reality led her to drug abuse, even being hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital in 2009 after a public breakdown, following an arrest in 2007 for a DUI, while being in possession of marijuana. This only goes to show the cruel disapproval that went with being a public figure in the 2000s, and the stern demands that came with fitting into 2000s culture and fashion.
With these standards making a return, it makes sense that celebrities today feel that same pressure to be skinny to fit into the 2000s aesthetic once again. Another accurate representation of the skinny epidemic that connects modern standards in 2025 to standards from the 2000s is a popular movie from that time, Thirteen. This is one of the best depictions of teens in media from the 2000s, showcasing the vulnerability of eating disorders and self image.
In Thirteen, the protagonist Tracy is a 13 year old girl freshly entering the 7th grade. She encounters the popular girls of the school and attempts to befriend them, only digging herself into a deep hole of drugs and troublemaking, while also battling an eating disorder and a cutting habit. This came to reflect teenage girls, especially because the movie was co-written and based on actress Nikki Reed’s life at only 13 years old.
Nikki even came to act in the movie, although she played one of the popular girls, Evie, and not Tracy, the character she was based on (played by Evan Rachel Wood). Told from a teenage perspective, this shows the harmful effects of teenagers or even girls of all ages being exposed to deep criticism on their bodies. With celebrities these days, this can only create more harm for girls around the world, especially younger girls who follow role models that are unhealthily skinny such as Ariana Grande and recently actress Natalia Dyer has been added to that list.
Recently, Ariana Grande addressed these concerns with her weight loss saying, “I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on peoples’ bodies” expressing her distaste with the criticism she’s been receiving. “The body [her “old” body] you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body. I was on a lot of antidepressants and drinking on them and eating poorly,” she adds.
Both Ariana Grande and Natalia Dyer have had concerned fans worried for their health. Under a post from Variety on Natalia Dyer’s look, she faced scrutiny over her image during the world premiere of Stranger Things season 5. Fans have even compared her to Ariana Grande with a comment from TikTok user kellyaxen saying,
“Oh my gosh she looks like Ariana Grande. What is happening to everyone in Hollywood?”
With even more comments voicing concern, a lot of them are hateful and claim she’s “too skinny.” Since the revival of 2000s culture normalized eating disorders and sickly skinny figures, a lot of celebrities have become desensitized to what a healthy body looks like after such exposure to the public eye and unrealistic beauty standards today.
Additionally, people close to Ariana have also suffered the same disapproval with the entire Wicked cast being shamed for their skinny bodies. With the entire cast being compared to themselves before and after filming (showing a notable difference in their weight), bothered fans have shared their theories that something disturbing must have happened on the set.
Consequently, because of the rise of Hollywood’s longing for the “ideal” skinny figure and the bandwagon mentality that has come to possess the internet’s ideology, this has proven to be cause for concern for numerous celebrities today, but also creates concern for the feeble-minded audience that play into the standards that these celebrities are creating. Will Hollywood ever recover?
Writen by Melanie Gomez, staff writer