Kate Beckinsale has clapped back at "vicious" critics on social media accusing her of undergoing cosmetic surgery.
The actor, 50, called out the "insidious bullying" over the weekend on Instagram while addressing remarks about her appearance.
"I hate talking about this because I hate adding to this conversation but I’m doing it because insidious bullying of any kind over time takes a toll," she captioned two videos that were taken "20 years apart - maybe more."
"Every time I post anything — and by the way, this has been the case since I was about 30 — I am accused of having had unrecognisable surgery /using Botox using fillers /being obsessed with looking younger, and it's really such a tiresome and subtly vicious way to bully a person."
Beckinsale has long faced widespread accusations about having cosmetic surgery, which she remains adamant are false. She further shared she had previously had a doctor verify her claims but this has not deterred social media users from flooding the comments section of her Instagram posts with comments about her appearance.
"I don't actually do any of those things — I've even gone to the trouble of having a plastic surgeon categorically state that I don't and haven't," Beckinsale wrote, adding, "and still, every time there's a chorus of my God, you're unrecognisable ... it happens constantly and it's usually women that are doing it."
In her post, Beckinsale offered a glimpse into her childhood while explaining why she was undeterred about aging, writing, "Life happens — obviously I have aged, everybody ages; I'm not too concerned about aging because I found my father dead at the age of 5."
"I spent most of my teenage years and a good deal of my 20s absolutely crippled with severe anxiety and panic attacks that I was going to die of a heart attack too, and went to emergency rooms often, and was almost, at that time of my life, completely immobilised by that anxiety," she recalled.
"The fact that one of the major things I am bullied about is an assumption that I can't handle the idea of getting older is so deeply ironic when my all consuming terror was that I never thought I'd even see the end of my 20s."
Concluding her post, Beckinsale wrote she hoped her worst would encourage people to refrain from commenting on others' appearances.
"I'm posting this knowing full well that it will have absolutely no effect. It isn't going to stop. But I'm also posting it because whatever someone looks like, accusing them constantly of things they haven't done, or being obsessed with youth when actually, currently I'm obsessed with surviving loss, is bullying. Please stop now," she wrote.
Earlier this year Beckinsale sparked concern when she posted now-deleted photos from the hospital. In the March post, she shared a tribute celebrating her mother's birthday and Mother's Day in the U.K.
The post featured several photos of her mother, but what alarmed fans were two photos of herself tearfully sitting in a hospital bed. No context was given, but she alluded to being "sick" in the caption.
"Thank you to those that love us and support us when it's [expletive] and try to make sure there are some bits that aren't," she wrote, according to the Independent. "And for looking after our dogs when we can't, and lead us to remember happy things when we can't. And turn up when we are sick and sit with us ... and send balloons and check in and pull us out of wells with love."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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