Tara Reid's Extensive Plastic Surgery, Explained

Tara Reid was the "it girl" of the aughts. She was the archetypal "girl next door" with her toothy smile, ice-blue eyes, blond locks, and bubbly personality. Then suddenly, she wasn't, after a few slices of the scalpel. According to IMDb, Reid had been in high demand thanks to box-office smashes such as "American Pie," "The Big Lebowski," and "Josie and the Pussycats." However, extensive plastic surgery seriously damaged Reid's career and drastically affected her body and confidence.

Before going under the knife, Reid had already battled with body shamers for years. The actor was perpetually criticized for being too thin, and her appearance was consistently scrutinized and commented upon. "People always say I don't eat. I eat all the time. They call me scary skinny," Reid told E! News. "You're my friend; everyone knows I eat more than anyone. I'm just a thin girl," she explained. Reid added, "the body shaming that is going on right now is to a degree that is so bad for girls, and I really relate to that."

The constant critique of women's bodies and appearances is horrendous, period. And, It's undoubtedly more strenuous to deal with while living under the constant glare of the Hollywood spotlight. As Today reported, Reid's problems were exacerbated during P-Diddy's 35th birthday party in November 2004 after an excruciating red-carpet wardrobe malfunction. As the paparazzi cameras clicked away, Reid's left breast was accidentally exposed, showing off her botched plastic surgery. Nearly two decades later, Reid's extensive plastic surgery has been explained.

Tara Reid explained her extensive plastic surgery in an Access Hollywood interview. She admitted that the P-Diddy birthday bash breast flash left her feeling mortified. "That was terrible," she shared. "I became known as having the ugliest breast in the world. It was all over these websites. Millions of them." Reid said she had the surgery at 28 because her breasts differed in size, and "they were getting saggy, and in Hollywood, you have to look great."

She told Us Weekly she'd asked for boob implants that were "big Bs." However, the surgeon "gave me Cs and I didn't want them." Reid said that she immediately observed that her nipples were totally misshapen (via ABC News). The surgeon insisted they would improve over time. But "[everything] started to get worse and worse," Reid admitted.

She confessed to Access Hollywood that she'd also had liposuction on her stomach. That ended up looking like a horror show too. Reid admitted she hadn't done any pre-op research because numerous people assured her that the surgeon was top-notch. "I was embarrassed. I didn't want people to see what I really looked like," Reid said. "I had to keep it covered." Things became so bad that it got to where Hollywood wouldn't cast Reid anymore. However, eventually, she got the botched surgery fixed. "I feel like a girl again," Reid said. "I walk out of the shower now, and it's like, wow, I'm back."

Tara Reid is still getting body shamed. While the heyday of tabloids is over, a bigger and more relentless beast has replaced them — social media. "Nothing better [than] your friend taking hot artsy pics of you in Palm Springs," Reid captioned two bikini photos on Instagram. Within minutes, she was deluged with negative comments. "This is just WRONG. Unhealthy and unattractive," wrote one member of the body police. "I'm not body shaming her," wrote another, who went on to do just that, insisting Reid needed to "[get] back to a normal healthy weight!"

The actor clapped back by posting another bikini pic and some sage advice. "To everyone who wrote something nice and stuck up for me, I love you!" Reid wrote. "And keep spreading that love, it is the only thing that will save this world."

"[Bullying] is something I very much personalize," Reid told E! News. "In my life, I've had a lot of bullying, and I know what that feels like and how much it hurts." Meanwhile, despite working for the past few years on low-budget, camp, and sometimes unintentionally great movies ("Sharknado," anybody?), Reid is preparing for her big box office comeback, and she's doing it all on her terms. "I finally decided, I'm not going to wait for people to cast me, I'm going to start casting myself," she told Variety. "I'm going to make my own destiny, my future."