Julie Chen Admits She Had Surgery To Open Asian Eyes

Hollywood is filled with women who have gotten plastic surgeries to try and either look younger or look more attractive. Fans tend have firm opinions on whether altering one’s body is a wise decision or not, but because of the complexities of this particular case, there are many who aren’t quite sure what to think. Big Brother host Julie Chen admitted this week that she had surgery on her “Asian eyes” as a twenty-five-year-old reporter after bosses and industry insiders told her she looked disinterested and expressionless on camera.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chen made the big reveal during Wednesday’s episode of The Talk. Each of the women revealed a “shocking secret” about themselves, and Julie’s has been getting some serious attention since it was made. You can watch it in its entirety below…

The first time Julie’s heritage and appearance became an issue happened while she was a reporter in Dayton, Ohio. She reportedly told her boss she would be willing to fill in on the anchor chair during weekends, vacations and holidays if they ever have a spot. At that point, he supposedly told her that would never happened for two reasons. First, as an Asian she wasn’t particularly relatable to the community and second, her eyes were so small viewers tended to think she was bored while on camera. Later, she spoke with a high profile agent, and he actually agreed with the criticism and recommended several plastic surgeons.

After numerous in-fights with her family and lots of self doubt, Chen decided to go through with the procedure, and her career took off not long after. In the time since, she has always wondered whether what she did was right, but she let viewers know yesterday how proud she is of her heritage and how willing she is to live with the choices she’s made, whether good or bad.

Very little about life is black and white. More often than not, the choices we have to make are incredibly complicated, and from a detached perspective, it’s easy to see why Chen went through emotional hell trying to figure out what to do. Fortuntately, she seems happy, and surgery or not, she’s still a great role model.