Kim Novak speaks out against Oscar night 'bullies'
If you made a mean joke about Kim Novak’s changing face on Oscar night, she wants you to know you really hurt her feelings.
The Vertigo star — whose current appearance became one of the buzzier moments of the Oscar ceremony this year — told the Associated Press that the cruel comments really surprised her. “It really did throw me into a tailspin and it hit me hard,” she explained. “I thought, ‘Perhaps Hollywood is ready to receive me in a different way’…I was just not prepared for such a negative reaction and it just caught me off guard.”
On Thursday, Novak wrote an open letter regarding the Oscars, where she explained, “I’m not going to deny that I had fat injections in my face. They seemed far less invasive than a face lift…In my opinion, a person has a right to look as good as they can, and I feel better when I look better.”
Read the full letter — where she addresses “the elephant in the room” — below:
“It’s time to address the elephant in the room…the Oscars. I was very excited when I was asked to be a presenter on the show. I was excited, yet nervous.
Years ago, I walked away from Hollywood partially because I didn’t stand up to the bullies. I caved in to the pressure instead of fighting for what I felt was right…and I didn’t have the courage to prove myself to my peers through my work.
After my appearance on the Oscars this year, I read all the jabs. I know what Donald Trump and others said, and I’m not going to deny that I had fat injections in my face. They seemed far less invasive than a face-lift. It was done in 2012 for the TCM interview special. In my opinion, a person has a right to look as good as they can, and I feel better when I look better.
When I was honored at the Cannes Film Festival last year, I received an overwhelming standing ovation. Yet, in Hollywood, after the Oscars, I was bullied by the press and the public on the Internet and TV. The only difference that night was that I had taken a pill to relax—that I shouldn’t have taken. I had been fasting for three days and it affected my behavior. I regret taking it.
However, I will no longer hold myself back from speaking out against bullies. We can’t let people get away with affecting our lives. We need to stand up to them in a healthy way by speaking out, working out and acting out. I am speaking out now because I don’t want to harbor unhealthy feelings inside me anymore.
One of the reasons I enjoy exercising and painting so much is that I can let out my frustrations and reactions to what’s happening in the world around me by working it out in a healthy way. It helps me, and doesn’t hurt anything or anybody. People need to get these things out of their systems and stand up to bullying. I believe there would be less suffering and violence, too!”