Demi Moore Reveals Hollywood Producer Triggered Her Eating Disorder with 'Humiliating' Weight Demands
Demi Moore, now 62, recently opened up about the harsh realities of body image struggles during her early Hollywood career.
In an interview with 'Elle,' Moore described the "humiliating" experience of being told by a producer to lose weight, which marked the beginning of her years-long battle with an eating disorder.
"There is a lot of torment I put myself through when I was younger," Moore admitted, recounting the pivotal moment. "The perfect example is when I was told to lose weight multiple times. The producer pulled me aside. It was very embarrassing and humiliating." While she didn't name the producer, she acknowledged how these comments triggered a relentless obsession with dieting and exercise.
Moore revealed that she internalized the pressure to meet Hollywood's standards, which led to extreme and unhealthy behaviors. "I placed almost all the value of who I was on my body being a certain way — that's on me," she reflected. She shared that her struggle was not limited to one role, as she changed her body repeatedly for different projects in an effort to find peace and self-acceptance.
Her memoir, 'Inside Out,' delved deeper into this pattern, highlighting how her exercise obsession became a problem while preparing for 'A Few Good Men' in 1992, just months after giving birth. "It was my job to fit into that unforgiving military uniform," Moore wrote. "Getting in shape for that movie launched the obsession with working out that would consume me over the next five years."
Moore ignored serious warnings from her doctors as she prepared for subsequent roles, including 'Indecent Proposal.' Reflecting on her mindset, she wrote, "I would be on display again, and all I could think about was my body, my body, my body." She doubled down on exercise, restricted carbs, and pushed herself to unsustainable extremes.
It wasn't until finishing the rigorous training for 'GI Jane' in 1997 that Moore realized she needed to heal. She described the breakthrough moment, saying she "just needed to be [her] natural size." The journey to repairing her relationship with food and exercise was difficult, but she eventually found balance and reclaimed her sense of self.
