EXCLUSIVE: Brooke Shields 'Seething' Over Being Trolled About Her Looks — After Releasing Book About Aging
Hollywood star Brooke Shields has told how she now gets trolled by movie fans because she no longer has the looks of a child actor.
Jan. 24 2025, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Hollywood icon Brooke Shields has told how she now gets trolled by movie fans because she no longer has the looks of a child actor.
She became a global name at the age of 12 with her role in Pretty Baby and she followed that with Blue Lagoon as a teenager, and now decades later she's furious that fans can't deal with the fact she's almost 60, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Shields, 59, has just penned a book about aging in a bid to deal with the years of catty comments about her appearance she has been forced to endure.
Her tome, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, even has some of those barbs from trolls printed on the book’s back cover.
Shields has confronted trolls criticizing her aging and tackled them over their hurtful comments.
"She looks strange. It's unfortunate because she was beautiful," one creep said.
"It's hard to believe she was pretty at one time," another added.
The star said about slapping their abuse on her book cover: "It was my idea, I don't normally read them and I said I don't really feel like doing the research on this, but if somebody from the publishing house can dig up some of the most ridiculous quotes, let's look at them.
"There was one that they didn’t put in, which I thought was hysterical, which was 'She's aged like sour milk'. I have to laugh at these things, right?"
Shields is seemingly 'not allowed to get old' and has explored aging gracefully in her tome.
She added: "I'm sharing it more coming into this era. It's not a case of, 'I've been like this and now I’m coming out as that'. It's just more of me."
The advent of social media means that she also gets to reply to the haters.
Shields added: "I was doing an Instagram Live the other day for the book. You know how the comments just fly by, and you've got to read one and reply? One of them said, 'I really wish you looked like you used to look.'
"And I replied, 'Read the title of the book, please'. Another was, 'Where’s your mother?' And I was like, 'Ah, that’s interesting. Dead. Dead. That’s my answer'."
The book chronicles how she has learned to say no to things that make her uncomfortable.
Shields has encouraged self-compassion, urging readers to treat themselves with kindness.
She added: "I don’t mind being funny, because I am. I'm a dorky person in many ways. I'll do something and I'll think that was so not cool, but it's just part of who I am. When you physically put yourself down, though, I used to say, 'I'm the big girl… I’ve got man hands', and it was funny, you start thinking, 'That's not fair.'
"If your daughter said that about herself, you would put her in the corner and say, 'Do not do that'."
She also revealed how when she set up her haircare firm Commence in her 50s she received frustrating reactions.
The star highlighted the frustration of being underestimated as an entrepreneur in her 50s.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Shields added: "I was in the throes of beginning my company Commence, going through all of the machinations of what it really is to have a startup and how it's not for the meek, and that whole struggle became very interesting to my agents.
"Why is it so shocking that a woman in her 50s can take on a new endeavor? It's like they think you took one foot out of the grave and decided to do this, you know? I thought, 'Well, that’s making me insanely angry'."
