Why the Golden Globes' $40,000 stem cell facelift freebie is problematic
There was something quietly captivating about the 2025 Golden Globes red carpet that had little to do with the parade of Balenciaga gowns or Emma Stone’s pixie cut – though both were undeniably striking.
What truly stood out, was that the majority of the female winners were over 50. From Demi Moore and Jodie Foster taking home awards at 62, to 52-year-old Karla Sofía Gascón and 59-year-old Fernanda Torres also picking up gongs, this year’s Golden Globes were a celebration of women Hollywood once deemed 'over the hill'.
So when I heard the news that one ‘lucky’ winner was offered a $40,000 ‘facelift’ voucher via the famed Golden Globes gift bags that are given to attendees, I was floored.
Luxury gifts and cosmetic surgery
The awards ceremony, held just a week ago on Sunday, is renowned for celebrating cinematic excellence and has been a staple of the entertainment world for over 80 years. In the past decade, however, the star-studded event has garnered as much attention for its opulent gift bags as for the accolades themselves.
This year was no different. Gifts inside the suede weekend tote this year included a five-day luxury yacht charter through the Coral Triangle in Indonesia, a night at the L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills, and a CurrentBody LED face mask.
Those savvy enough to strike first were also able to call first dibs on list of VVIP gifts: a two-thousand-dollar bottle of tequila, a £12k NordicTrack treadmill, a £9k custom Italian suit.
Oh, and a 40,000 dollar 'stem cell facelift'. Performed by Dr Simon Ourian, who treats the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner, the treatment – in which a series of injections that use a patient’s own stem cells to lift certain areas of the face was offered to one winner.
When I first read the headline on an idle morning scroll, a couldn’t help but smirk. This, on a night when Demi Moore took home the Best Actress award for The Substance – a poignant critique of society’s obsession with youth and an impassioned outcry against the idealisation and vilification of women’s bodies. The inclusion of the facelift feels so on the nose it could have been be a plotline.
Moore’s acceptance speech went viral, and for good reason. ‘I had a woman say to me, “Just know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.” And so today I celebrate this as a marker of my wholeness.’
The failure of both the cosmetic doctor offering the treatment and the organisers tasked with the prizes, to recognise the irony is, at best, troubling, and at worst, a glaring misjudgment.
Why the term 'facelift', in this instance, is misleading
And yet outside of the Los Angeles entertainment bubble, there is another narrative at play here; one that trivialises the severity of cosmetic surgery. For starters, the word ‘facelift’ isn’t accurate with the treatment that was on offer. Rather ‘it involves a series of injections using a patient’s own stem cells, designed to lift and rejuvenate areas of the face,’ explains renowned London-based plastic surgeon Mr Naveen Cavale.
‘Surgical facelifts are complex procedures that involve tightening underlying tissues, removing excess skin, and repositioning facial structures. Injectables simply can’t achieve the same level of precision or transformation. While it might sound enticing, calling this procedure a "facelift" is highly misleading.’
That’s because lumping a face lift in the same category as complimentary makeover you’d find on a beauty counter is an oversimplification that fails to recognise the profound differences between the two.
It should go without saying, but those that work in the beauty industry must be open to having honest conversations about the difference between applying a swipe of lipstick as a mere form or self-expression and opting for lifelong treatments that can permanently alter your face. Those that don’t, run the risk of being accused of preying on the impressionable to line their pockets.
Beyond semantics though, presenting a cosmetic surgery as a casual ‘freebie’ belittles the decision to undergo aesthetic work, which is deeply personal and often complex. ‘Offering a facelift, stem cell-based or otherwise, implies that the recipients might need such a procedure. It subtly reinforces the idea that ageing is undesirable and that aesthetic intervention is a necessity, rather than a choice. That’s deeply problematic,’ adds Dr Cavale.
The bottom line
Women should absolutely be free to make their own choices when it comes to cosmetic surgeries or treatments – this goes without saying. But when the carrot is perpetually dangled in front of them, the stick of 'choice' becomes less distinguishable.
Normalising non-surgical cosmetic procedures as giveaways or prizes only fuels the idea that women need these treatments in order to stay beautiful, which is turns fuels an unregulated market that is already causing deaths, both in the UK and aboard. Ultimately aesthetic surgery and treatments are medical interventions. They require careful thought, consultation, and an understanding of the risks and benefits. They’re not something to be casually offered or accepted in the spirit of celebration.
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