Julie Chen Moonves Opens Up About Her ‘Revenge’ Facelift: ‘Hollywood Is Not Kind on Aging Women’

Julie Chen Moonves has revealed her 2018 departure from The Talk is what prompted her decision to “go under the knife” for a cosmetic refresh.

In her new audio memoir But First, God, Chen Moonves, 53, claimed her exit from the CBS daytime show in September 2018 after eight years of moderating the panel series spurred her decision to get a “lower facelift,” partly because she was “expected to look not drastically different” from how she appeared on screens.

“When you work in front of the television and you are a woman, you are expected to look — I’m just gonna say it: young,” Chen Moonves said in the audiobook. “You’re expected to be pleasing to the eye and society, especially Hollywood is not kind on aging women.”

“And I knew part of my bread and butter being in front of the camera was to maintain how I looked, stay out of the sun, put on sunblock and yes, if I have to, go under the knife,” she continued.

The CBS personality said following her departure from The Talk at age 48, cosmetic surgery felt like “a form of healing” and was a way to prove “these meanies can’t get me down.”

“You know how some people, when they get broken up with by a loved one, they get a revenge body? Well, I wanted to get a revenge face,” she explained, adding, “Getting the lower facelift was definitely part of ‘my job’ because I’m expected to look not drastically different from season to season or how people are used to seeing me on TV.”

While Chen Moonves — who continues to host Big Brother, currently airing its 27th season — believed the cosmetic procedure would be subtle enough that people would think she was “fabulous and rested.” She was soon caught by photographers while on a visit to her doctor’s office post-operation.

“Leaving one of my doctor’s appointments looking totally unrecognizable and completely bandaged up like a mummy, little did I know I got caught by the paparazzi,” she admitted in the audiobook.

Chen Moonves’ 2018 departure from The Talk came days after her husband Les Moonves left his position as chairman and CEO of CBS, amid allegations of sexual misconduct from more than a dozen women, which he has denied.

At the time of her exit, Chen Moonves — who shares son Charlie, 14, with Les — made no reference to the allegations against her husband, saying instead that she needed “to spend more time at home with my husband and our young son.”

She continued to stand by her husband on X, formerly known as Twitter, at the time calling him “a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader.”

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“He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being,” she wrote in July 2018. “I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”

But First, God marks the first time Chen Moonves has opened up about her departure from The Talk, a choice she felt she didn’t have.

“That was a hard time,” she recalled. “I felt stabbed in the back. I was.”

The audiobook chronicles Chen Moonves’ spiritual journey, which has helped her to reconcile her negative feelings around her exit from The Talk.

“I don’t know if I could have reconciled if I didn’t have God in my life,” she said.

But First, God: An Audio Memoir of Spiritual Discovery is available to purchase on Sept. 19.