Troye Sivan came out swinging after a cosmetic surgeon posted an Instagram reel dissecting his appearance and suggesting procedures to "fix" it.
In a candid Substack post published Wednesday, the singer and actor opened up about body image, aging, and the pressure to pursue cosmetic work now that he’s 30.
While the doctor later apologized and deleted the video, fans praised Sivan for calling out what many see as a growing trend of "aesthetics doctors" weighing in on people's faces without their consent.
Troye Sivan calls out "aesthetics doctor"
In a candid Substack post originally titled "f*ck this guy," the X-Men actor confessed to feeling pulled toward two options regarding his appearance, depending on the time of day.
The first was to embrace the natural inevitability of aging and reject the cosmetic procedures that make everyone look the same.
"When everyone else has the same nose and no wrinkles and no smile lines and filler that’s migrated all the way down to their necks, you’ll be so happy and chic and weathered and wise," he wrote.
On the other hand, he feels tempted to get some under-eye filler. Even "baby Botox" is on the table. This all stemmed from an Instagram post by London cosmetic surgeon Dr. Zayn, who often picks apart celebrities' appearances on his page.
The doctor went over every minute change in the young celebrity's face and body and laid out a plan for how to "re-twinkify" him.
"What good is money and modern medicine if not to fix all of these flaws that this random sicko f*cko plastic surgeon told me I have in an instagram reel?" Sivan asked.
He went on to admit that he doesn't think he looks good in photos, even on the red carpet. In the end, he still doesn't know which path he'll choose.
Sivan is hardly alone among young people considering cosmetic procedures. A 2024 report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons stated that between 2019 and 2022, the number of adults aged 20 to 29 who received neuromodulator injections like Botox rose by 71 percent.
"More celebrities should do exactly that"
A recent update on Sivan's Substack post says that Dr. Zayn deleted the video and reached out to apologize. The actor changed the post title to "feeling a bit uggo (ugly)," and added that he harbors no hard feelings.
We'll have to wait and see whether this incident changes Dr. Zayn's posting habits. Regardless, he's not the only person calling himself an "aesthetics doctor" who "critiques" people's faces without their consent. This phenomenon has increased alongside youth plastic surgery, to no surprise.
Some feel that Sivan was 100 percent correct to say "f*ck this guy."
On X, @laracroftbarbie wrote, "the only way to really deal with the incursion of so called 'aesthetics doctors' who peddle insecurity to then sell the cure is to put them on the jumbotron and shame them," adding, "more celebrities should do exactly that."
On r/popculturechat, Redditors lamented the sharp increase in insecurity among young people.
"The amount of 25 year olds I know that genuinely think they are old and chopped," reported u/Jiffyplop. "It used to annoy tf outta me but now its just sad. There's still so much life to live."
"People acting like a 30 year old is ancient and past his prime is genuinely unhinged," said u/Manic-StreetCreature.
"Normalize aging and getting older for the love of god!!!!!!!" u/vegalucyna pleaded.
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