Nearly a decade after a cosmetic procedure drastically altered her life, supermodel Linda Evangelista is finally reclaiming her voice and embracing a new life chapter.
During a new interview for Harper’s Bazaar the legendary ‘90s icon opens up about her feelings and emotional journey on her post-surgery body, the scars she still carries, and her road toward self-acceptance.
Between August 2015 and February 2016, she underwent a series of CoolSculpting treatments and endured years of physical and emotional pain. The noninvasive “fat-freezing” procedure, which she hoped would refine her silhouette, resulted in paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), a rare complication that caused hardened, enlarged fat deposits to form.
After being diagnosed, the model filed a $50 million lawsuit in 2021, alleging the treatment left her “permanently deformed.” The two parties later settled out of court, and Linda expressed her desire to move forward after the traumatic experience.
She also faced a long list of serious medical procedures over the years. These included a double mastectomy, lung operations, chest-tube scars, keloid removals, and a C-section.
“My double mastectomy, I’m fine with it,” she told the publication. “I did put in very small implants. What they took out, I put in, cc-wise.” For her, the physical scars are only part of the journey. The emotional healing is still ongoing.
“I have to go through therapy to like what I see when I look in the mirror, and I still don’t look in the mirror,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to see myself because I didn’t love myself or like myself.”
Linda is now beginning to embrace herself again. “I’m doing the work, and I’m trying to get to the place where I like myself, flaws and all, and trying to love myself.”
She continued, “I don’t care how I age. I just want to age,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be gracefully. I really, really, really don’t want to die. I have still so much to do. I’m finally getting comfortable with myself and with everything, and now I want to enjoy it.”
“I’m alive. I’m alive. I’m alive, and I’m going to do what I have to do. I’m going to fight because I don’t want it any other way. I’m not done," she concluded.