'Grateful' Linda Evangelista settles CoolSculpting case

Linda Evangelista ‘pleased to have settled’ CoolSculpting case after failed procedure

A woman with short brown hair and red lipstick posing in a black blazer

July 20, 2022 9:16 AM PT

Just days after making a surprise return to modeling, Linda Evangelista confirmed she has settled her lawsuit against Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc.

On Instagram, the model shared a statement Tuesday announcing that the case is closed and expressing gratitude for “those who have reached out” and supported her. Evangelista was seeking $50 million in damages. The dollar amount of the settlement is unknown.

For the record:

3:02 p.m. July 20, 2022A previous version of this story misidentified a photo of Stephanie Seymour as fellow model Linda Evangelista.

“I’m pleased to have settled the CoolSculpting case,” Evangelista wrote. “I look forward to the next chapter of my life with friends and family, and am happy to put this matter behind me.”

In September, the ’90s covergirl filed a product liability lawsuit in New York against Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., a subsidiary of Allergan allegedly responsible for her CoolSculpting nightmare. CoolSculpting is a noninvasive procedure approved by the FDA to reduce visible bulges under the chin and jaw, as well as on the thighs, abdomen, flanks and back.

However, Evangelista claims that her fat-freezing procedure went awry, causing her fat cells to increase instead of decrease and leaving her “permanently deformed” to the point of appearing “unrecognizable.”

“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 said in a statement after filing her lawsuit.

After the procedure, Evangelista said she developed paradoxical adipose hyperplasia — a rare side effect of fat freezing she maintains she was never informed about. According to a 2014 report by the National Institutes of Health, paradoxical adipose hyperplasia augments fat cells, which morph into hard protrusions on a person’s body.

In a February interview with People magazine, Evangelista said she has suffered physically, emotionally and professionally as a result of the procedure, which caused her to become a recluse living with social anxiety and agoraphobia.

“I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know,” the 57-year-old told People. “I can’t live like this anymore, in hiding and shame.”

For the first time since opening up about her traumatic CoolSculpting experience, Evangelista reappeared on the modeling scene last week for a new Fendi campaign. The former runway star and the fashion empire recently collaborated for the 25th anniversary of the baguette handbag, designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi.

Upon sharing her Fendi photo shoot on Instagram, Evangelista wrote, “I am so grateful.”