Linda Evangelista ‘ready to move on’ after settling botched surgery lawsuit

File photo: Linda Evangelista is reportedly “ready to move on” after settling her lawsuit over a fat-reduction procedure. Picture: REUTERS Paul Hackett

File photo: Linda Evangelista is reportedly “ready to move on” after settling her lawsuit over a fat-reduction procedure. Picture: REUTERS Paul Hackett

Published Jul 20, 2022

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Linda Evangelista is reportedly “ready to move on” after settling her lawsuit over a fat-reduction procedure.

The supermodel has concluded her legal battle over the CoolSculpting op which she claimed left her looking “deformed” and recently returned to modelling with a photo shoot for Fendi – her first in six years – and now a source has told PEOPLE.com the 57-year-old is keen to put the case behind her.

An insider told the publication: "With this settled and the recent Fendi ad campaign, Linda is ready to try to move on. After literally years of hiding, she’s out and about.

“She feels all the goodwill from her industry, other supermodels and her fans, and it makes her feel loved.”

Linda revealed the lawsuit was over in a post to her 1.2 million Instagram followers which read: “I’m pleased to have settled the CoolSculpting case. I look forward to the next chapter of my life with friends and family, and am happy to put this matter behind me. I am truly grateful for the support I have received from those who have reached out.”

She previously claimed her career suffered after the procedure left her “brutally disfigured”.

Last September she told her followers: “Today I took a big step towards righting a wrong that I have suffered and have kept to myself for over five years. To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers’ careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured by Zeltiq’s CoolSculpting procedure which did the opposite of what it promised. It increased, not decreased, my fat cells and left me permanently deformed even after undergoing two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries. I have been left, as the media has described, ‘unrecognisable’.”

The model also explained she developed paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH), a "very rare but serious side effect“ of the fat-freezing procedure, according to Heathline, and battled ”deep depression“ in the aftermath of the treatment.

She continued: “I have developed Paradoxical Adipose Hyperplasia or PAH, a risk of which I was not made aware before I had the procedures. PAH has not only destroyed my livelihood, it has sent me into a cycle of deep depression, profound sadness, and the lowest depths of self-loathing. In the process, I have become a recluse. With this lawsuit, I am moving forward to rid myself of my shame, and going public with my story. I'm so tired of living this way. I would like to walk out my door with my head held high, despite not looking like myself any longer.”

CoolSculpting is the brand name for cryolipolysis, which uses cold temperatures to reduce fat deposits and is also known as body contouring.