The 43-year-old Chinese-American co-host Julie Chen revealed that when she was beginning her career as a news anchor, she got plastic surgery to make her eyes look more American.
“My secret dates back to—my heart is racing—it dates back to when I was 25 yearsold and I was working as a local news reporter in Dayton, Ohio,” she said. “I asked my news director [if] over the holidays, if anchors want to take vacations, could I fill in? And he said, ‘You will never be on this anchor desk, because you’re Chinese.’”
“He said, ‘Let’s face it Julie, how relatable are you to our community? How big of an Asian community do we have in Dayton?’” she said. “‘On top of that, because of your Asian eyes, I’ve noticed that when you’re on camera, you look disinterested and bored.’”
“Well, fast forward, I’m like I need to get another job—if I can—so I start meeting with agents for career advice,” she said. “This one big-time agent basically told me the same thing. He said, ‘I cannot represent you unless you get plastic surgery to make your eyes look bigger.”
Chen talked the surgery over with her parents, who gave her their support. “After I had it done, the ball did roll for me, and I wondered, did I give in to the man? I have to live with every decision that I’ve made,” she said. “And it got me to where we are today. And I’m not going to look back.”
I think it’s pretty impressive she admitted it, and her eyes are obviously not the only thing she’s had tweaked. Her nose is much smaller than it used to be.