Celebrity media frequently tells a version of this story: an actress gains weight, loses weight, the internet reacts, and the cycle repeats. That version was always the lazy one when it came to Lili Reinhart. While millions of people were busy arguing over her waist circumference, the true story was taking place inside her body, mostly unseen.
Reinhart played Betty Cooper on Riverdale for the majority of her twenties, enduring seven seasons, demanding filming schedules, and a wardrobe department that expected her to wear the same pair of jeans through a worldwide pandemic and back. She put on weight when COVID struck. The fitting rooms didn’t change to accommodate her when production resumed. Her description of the event—three people observing, a dimly lit room, and the use of pins to add fabric—is so clear that it is nearly uncomfortable to read. Not quite the glitzy Hollywood that the general public is sold.
Reinhart eventually realized that her body wasn’t just reacting to the stress of lockdown and altered eating patterns, which made it worse. Beneath, something else was going on. She described her cortisol levels as “off the charts.” Her face took on a new form. She had what she refers to as “moon face,” a noticeable swelling brought on by an imbalance in cortisol. She felt completely powerless over something that should have been all her own.
There were waves of diagnoses. The first instance of alopecia occurred in January 2024. Then, in early 2025, interstitial cystitis, a chronic bladder ailment that often goes undiagnosed for years and causes pain that most people have never heard of. Then she discovered endometriosis during a laparoscopic procedure, which she publicly disclosed in a now-viral Instagram photo from a hospital bed. Adenomyosis came next. Then she brought up mast cell activation syndrome, almost as an afterthought, adding yet another task to an already daunting to-do list. A life could be turned upside down by any one of these circumstances alone. In a world that portrayed her story as one of weight fluctuation, she was juggling all of them at once, on camera.
It’s important to take a moment to think about what Reinhart’s “weight loss” really meant. Her body is treated as a before-and-after in the online version that creates the YouTube thumbnails and search traffic. However, what she has described is far more intricate than a diet or exercise regimen. Undiagnosed inflammatory disorders cause the body to retain fluid, cortisol levels to rise, and physical changes unrelated to diet. This was completely overlooked in the discourse surrounding her body for years.
Additionally, she has been remarkably persistent in challenging the culture that initially sparked that discussion. Reinhart’s response to Kim Kardashian’s public description of cutting sugar and carbohydrates for three weeks to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s dress for the 2022 Met Gala was clear-cut. She made the point without specifically mentioning Kardashian. “To walk on a red carpet and do an interview where you say how starving you are… because you haven’t eaten carbs in the last month… all to fit in a dress?” On a hundred levels, she called it incorrect. It was a statement made in public by someone who was aware of the harm that such messaging causes to those who are already struggling.
The timing of all of this has a subtle significance. By 2025, Reinhart had also introduced a skincare line based on her experience with acne, which was more focused and useful than the aspirational kind of celebrity beauty brand. She discussed her relationship with food on Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky. She was gradually creating a public persona that was largely unrelated to her appearance in Betty Cooper’s ponytail.
She appears to be someone who has spent years having the wrong conversation thrust upon her and has quietly decided to start having a different one. She is now close to thirty years old and the star of The Love Hypothesis, a BookTok phenomenon with an intensely devoted fan base. It’s another matter entirely if the internet adopts her strategy. Observing the change, however, makes it difficult to avoid the conclusion that Lili Reinhart’s most fascinating chapter has less to do with losing weight and more to do with a woman being accepted for what her body was telling her.
FAQs
1. Did Lili Reinhart lose weight intentionally?
No — her body changes were caused by undiagnosed chronic inflammatory conditions.
2. What chronic illnesses has Lili Reinhart been diagnosed with?
Alopecia, interstitial cystitis, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and mast cell activation syndrome.
3. Why did Lili Reinhart criticize Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala diet?
She called crash dieting publicly harmful, especially for people with eating disorders.
4. What is “moon face” and why did Reinhart experience it?
It’s cortisol-related facial swelling — her cortisol levels were dangerously elevated.
5. What project is Lili Reinhart working on after Riverdale?
She stars in The Love Hypothesis, adapted from Ali Hazelwood’s BookTok novel.
