Why Do We Still Care About Celebrity Transformations?

It’s 2020. We’re still quarantining. There’s a presidential election coming up. But for some reason, the celebrity transformation narrative still grabs our attention.

Even if we consider ourselves to be body positive and inclusive, a celebrity’s drastic appearance gives us pause. Granted, we live in a world where we need 24 hours of content, but doesn’t this kind of story feel antiquated? Are we so bored in this pandemic that we’ll now click on a “Before and After” story?

Let’s talk about some celebrities who made news for their weight while in quarantine:

Kelly Osbourne: Osbourne’s style evolution and body have been scrutinized for close to 20 years. A couple of months ago, Osbourne posted a selfie on Instagram, and in the comments replied to a family friend that she lost more than 80 pounds. This led to lots of press when she also admitted to undergoing weight-loss surgery). However, this could be an old-school press plant: Osbourne recently became a panelist for a new show, “I Can See Your Voice.”

Lizzo: It there was ever a champion for body positivity, it’s Lizzo. (But if you read her Vogue cover story, the singer says she’s body-normative.) If you follow Lizzo on her social media, then you have seen her work out, eat, drink, twerk...basically living her best life. While in quarantine, Lizzo has adopted a more vegan lifestyle. She recently posted a selfie from the waist down and appeared to have lost weight, which stirred up some ire among her followers. But Lizzo dropped that Vogue cover on us and it seems all was forgiven.

Cardi B: Like the rest of us, Cardi’s schedule came to a halt when COVID-19 hit. Some followers on Cardi’s Instagram commented on her photos that the rapper’s body looked slightly different. Not one to hold back, Cardi did acknowledge the slight weight gain –we’re all self-quarenting!–on her Instagram Stories. She joked, “I got lipo money!”

Lena Dunham: The producer/actor has eschewed the “plus size” label for years. She and fellow actor Amy Schumer once talked about being mislabeled as plus-sized for Dunham’s Lenny enewsletter. But in the last year, she’s been embracing her new form. “I reminded myself how many times I have doubted my body and how many times she has pulled through for me, like a shitty Honda on a road trip,” she recently posted on an Instagram post.