Brooke Shields said a plastic surgeon performed a vaginal tightening procedure on her without her consent, and she was so ashamed she didn’t tell husband Chris Henchy for a long time.
The actor and model made the revelation in an Us Weekly interview, which the magazine teased Wednesday.
“It felt like such an invasion — such a bizarre, like, rape of some kind,” she said.
Shields, who was promoting her new book, “Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old,” said she underwent a planned labia reduction in her 40s to decrease discomfort, but her Beverly Hills surgeon revealed later that he had gone beyond what she specifically authorized.
“He legitimately proudly explained to me that he, you know, threw in a little twofer,” she said, per the article. “Nothing pointed toward this need to be tighter or smaller or firmer or younger, especially there.”
Shields, now 59, said she felt both “shame” and “anger” but decided against suing the surgeon, despite the procedure being “irreversible.” According to a description of the procedure from a plastic surgery hospital in the UK, vaginal tightening can also leave a scar that extends outside the vagina for a few centimeters.
“If we are to change the way we approach and talk about women’s health, then we need to bring up the uncomfortable but very real issues,” the “Blue Lagoon” and “Suddenly Susan” star wrote in the book, per Us.
Her memoir comes out Tuesday, and promises “remarkable candor” from Shields.
“Brooke [bares] all, painting a vibrant and optimistic picture of being a woman in the prime of her life, ” the book’s Amazon description says.