Supermodel Linda Evangelista says she has settled a lawsuit in which she claimed she was left permanently disfigured after undergoing a fat-freezing procedure.
Evangelista, 57, had sued Zeltiq Aesthetics, the parent company behind CoolSculpting, which provides an alternative to liposuction. While she was seeking $50 million, the dollar amount of the settlement is not known.
“I’m pleased to have settled the CoolSculpting case,” Evangelista wrote Tuesday on Instagram. “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.”
Zeltiq Aesthetics did not reply t o TODAY's request for comment.
Last year, Evangelista filed a $50 million lawsuit against the company, claiming she suffered permanent injuries that left her unable to work following seven sessions she had in 2015 and 2016.
“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,” Evangelista wrote in on Instagram last September.
“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, ‘unrecognizable.’”
Evangelista, who has appeared on hundreds of magazine covers and was one of the world’s most recognizable models in the ‘90s, wrote that she developed paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, which she says she was not told was a risk prior to the procedure. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons describes PAH as “an unexpected increase in the number of fat cells.
CoolSculpting lists paradoxical hyperplasia as a potential side effect on its website.
Evangelista also wrote that PAH “not only destroyed my livelihood, it has sent me into a cycle of deep depression, profound sadness and the lowest depths of self-loathing,” while also making her “a recluse.”
“I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know,” she told People in February. “I can’t live like this anymore, in hiding and shame. I just couldn’t live in this pain any longer. I’m willing to finally speak.”
Last weekend, Evangelista announced on Instagram that she will return to modeling when she appears in a fashion show for Fendi in September, though she did not make any comments about what led to the appearance or how she feels returning to the catwalk.