Jamie Lee Curtis says medical beauty treatments are 'genocide' against women

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis has come out against the use of plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures, saying that it has led to the “disfigurement” of generations of women.

In an interview with The Guardian, the 66-year-old star said, “The concept that you can alter the way you look through chemicals, surgical procedures, fillers – there’s a disfigurement of generations of predominantly women who are altering their appearances.”

Curtis also touched on the role of technology, including artificial intelligence, in promoting unrealistic beauty standards. “It is aided and abetted by AI, because now the filter face is what people want. I’m not filtered right now. The minute I lay a filter on and you see the before and after, it’s hard not to go, ‘Oh, well that looks better.’ But what’s better? Better is fake,” she said.

The actor, best known for her roles in Halloween and Freaky Friday, wore large wax lips she purchased herself for the photoshoot, explaining, “The wax lips is my statement against plastic surgery.” She added, “I’ve been very vocal about the genocide of a generation of women by the cosmeceutical industrial complex, who’ve disfigured themselves. The wax lips really sends it home.”

Curtis stood by her use of the term “genocide," using the dictionary definition as the “deliberate and systematic destruction of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” and said she applied it “specifically” because of its severity. “I believe that we have wiped out a generation or two of natural human [appearance],” she said.

When asked about Lindsay Lohan, her co-star in Freaky Friday, who has recently drawn attention for a changed appearance, Curtis avoided criticism. “I’m bossy, very bossy, but I try to mind my own business,” she said. “She doesn’t need my advice. She’s a fully functioning, smart woman, creative person. Privately, she’s asked me questions, but nothing that’s more than an older friend you might ask.”

Curtis said she wasn't trying to shame women who opt for cosmetic enhancements. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not proselytising to them. I would never say a word. I would never say to someone, ‘What have you done?’” she said. “All I know is that it is a never-ending cycle. That, I know. Once you start, you can’t stop. But it’s not my job to give my opinion; it’s none of my business.”

Curtis has spoken on this topic before. In 2022, she told the Today show that she was “pro-aging” and had undergone procedures herself in the past. “I did plastic surgery,” she said. “I put Botox in my head. Does Botox make the big wrinkle go away? Yes. But then you look like a plastic figurine.”