Julia Roberts Recalls The Time She Showed Off Armpit Hair On The Red Carpet And People Lost Their Dang Minds

One thing many people love to do is watch celebrities set out for any number of red carpet events, because paying attention to celebrity fashion is, in fact, its own pop culture pastime. It’s quite common for people to don outfits that cause a stir for one reason or another, including what they do or do not choose to show of their bodies in public. 2025 movies star Julia Roberts became a lightning rod for such attention decades ago, when she showed off her armpit hair at a premiere, and has recalled the “scandal” it caused.

What Julia Roberts Has Said About Her Infamous Armpit Hair Moment

Generally, when there is shock and dismay about what a famous person is wearing, it tends to involve something like one of Dakota Johnson’s many sheer looks that have gotten backlash, Sydney Sweeney’s viral fashion choices, the incredibly wild looks of someone like Bianca Censori, or Kim Kardashian coming up with things for SKIMS like “bush” undies. As you probably know, the comments about such clothing options and the people who wear them can quickly become quite personal.

Unfortunately, this is what happened on one fateful day in 1999, when the notably fashionable Julia Roberts (who recently put a somewhat odd twist on method dressing) attended the London premiere of one of her hit films (which eventually became one of the best romantic comedies of all time), Notting Hill. The actress sported an adorably sparkly, red Vivienne Tam cap-sleeved dress to that showing, but as she recalled to Vogue, it was because she put her arm up and waved that all hell eventually broke loose:

It might be hard for those in a younger age bracket to imagine the outpouring of disgust that occurred after the Erin Brockovich lead revealed her hairy pits, especially because it is far more common now for ladies like Rachel McAdams to go unshaven and also show it off. But, trust me, this was actually such a big deal that it made the news. Let’s take a look at exactly how hirsute our Pretty Woman was at the time, shall we? Observe:

Not only did I see this relatively mild amount of hair be referred to as “a bushel,” as though it could be cut, sold at market and used to construct entire coats for a family of four, but it was also labeled "unhygienic" and a host of other negative, incredibly speculative and, let’s face it, misogynistic things. If the After the Hunt star’s pit strands amount to her being unclean in any way, then the same should be true for most men, who, shockingly, feel little to no societal pressure to shave their pits or any other body parts.

The move was also seen as some kind of feminist statement, but as Roberts explained in 2018 when appearing on the talk show Busy Tonight (via People), she wasn’t trying to say anything at all. As she explained:

Considering what Roberts said more recently to Vogue, my guess is that what she means is that she simply prefers not to shave her pits on any kind of regular basis, which is cool with me and should be cool with everyone. Because, my god, if we can’t all decide whether or not to do something as personal as leave our body hair alone (or not), then we really are paying attention to the wrong things in life.