What started as a defiant message to ageist critics from Kate Beckinsale ended up with the actress disclosing to millions the health issues that have been plaguing her over a harrowing few months.
The 50-year-old Pearl Harbour actress initially sparked concern among fans in May, when she shared a series of since-deleted photos taken from a hospital bed at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles.
Beckinsale did not reveal the reason behind her treatment, and deleted all allusions to her illness from her social media pages. Until now.
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Earlier this week, Beckinsale uploaded shared a video with her 5.6 million Instagram followers, which she used to hit back at critics.
In the footage, Beckinsale, who is wearing a baby pink cropped two-piece and knee-high boots, can be seen putting on a hair net in the mirror as she addresses the person filming, noting how it’s in response to people who believe she doesn’t conduct herself in an age-appropriate manner.
“Let’s have a toast for the douche bags. Let’s have a toast for the assholes. Let’s have a toast for the scumbags 😘😘😘😘,” Beckinsale’s caption read.
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Attention quickly swivelled, however, to a comment made by a troll who commented on the shape of her figure.
“No, actually, I watched my stepfather die quite shockingly, my mother has stage 4 cancer, and I lost a lot of weight from stress and grief, quite quickly,” Beckinsale responded to the now-pinned hate comment.
“And then I was in hospital for six weeks because the grief had burned a hole in my esophagus which made me vomit copious amounts of blood, and I found eating very hard.”
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Beckinsale’s stepfather Roy Battersby died aged 87 in January, six years after her mother, Judy Loe, was diagnosed with cancer. She’s also still mourning her beloved cat, Clive, who died in June 2023.
”And I just worked very, very hard on a movie that was actually quite triggering because it also involved the theme of the death of my father so I’m not really concerned about what you think about my ass,’ Beckinsale continued.
“Maybe you should worry about your own f–king ass. I suggest shoving something up it-like a large pineapple or a brick,” she concluded.
The video, which has almost 6000 comments at the time of writing, was quickly flooded with messages of support for Beckinsale from her fans.
“You have more true fans who appreciate you than haters. Always know this,” one fan wrote.
Another wrote: ‘Keep it up babes!!! My female rage sees and acknowledges yours darling one! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️”.
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