Jason Merritt/Getty Images for ELLEIt seems like everybody has something to say about Renée Zellweger's new look, especially the ladies on The View.
"My point is that it's her right and I think that people are just so mean and cruel," View co-host Rosie Perez said this morning in defense of the 45-year-old actress, who made major headlines this week for looking different than she has in years past. "When I first heard the story this morning, all I thought about was her feelings and how hurt she must be by all of these."
Some haters online have made fun of Zellweger, who debuted her new look at Monday night's Elle Women in Hollywood event in Beverly Hills. Others, like Perez, are defending the Chicago star.
"But I have a question," Rosie O'Donnell proposed on The View today. "If somebody who is a public figure drastically changes their appearance so that they're unrecognizable, are we as a society supposed to pretend we don't see it? I agree we shouldn't be mean about it, but to actually observe the fact that she looks drastically different than she used to, if it's not done in a mean, judgmental tone, I think it's OK. Otherwise, it's the elephant in the room."
"I think the reality is that there is an unending pressure on women to look forever young," co-host Nicole Wallace chimed in. "I tried BOTOX once and looked like Inspector Clouseau. I'll never do it again. I just had a baby and was exhausted and saw these wrinkles. I don't care, but I think the fact that it didn't go great is probably the only reason I won't keep doing it. But to pretend it's something that isn't I think is what you're saying. As long as the culture that's called out for what it is. It holds women to an unrealistic and insane standard of a body that looks like a 12-year-old and a face that looks like an 8-year-old. It's insane."
Zellweger was also a hot topic on the Today show.
"Here's the thing: She's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't," Kathy Lee Gifford dished Wednesday morning. "The trouble with being in the public eye is we all age, a day at a time, all of us change. But most people, you can age privately in your own home. Everybody's got something to say about everything in our world today. I think she looks beautiful. And first of all, we all say we're so for feminism, which is a woman's choice to do what she wants with her own body. What about if she wants to go to a spa, what about if she wants to go and get her eyes down? I'm not saying she's had any of these things done. That's her prerogative and her choice. Let her be and don't be so mean spirited about her choices."
Following all the headlines, Zellweger explained her look, saying, "I'm glad folks think I look different! I'm living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I'm thrilled that perhaps it shows...It seems the folks who come digging around for some nefarious truth which doesn't exist won't get off my porch until I answer the door."