Kim Kardashian is more than used to making headlines, sparking controversy and “breaking the internet” with every look. Her outfit at the Met Gala, fashion’s biggest and most high-profile night, was always going to make a splash. But when the reality star arrived at the New York event last week, it was her waist that got everyone talking – and not for the first time…
On the green carpet, Kim wore a silver corsetted John Galliano dress with a grey shawl cardigan which highlighted Kim’s extreme hourglass figure. The 43-year-old has form when it comes to pushing her body to extreme lengths for the Met Gala – she had to take breathing lessons to sit down in her 2019 look, and went on a crash diet to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s dress in 2022.
This year, Kim’s waist looked smaller than ever. Getting ready for the event, she told Vogue, “I’ll feel so snatched I won’t even be able to communicate to you how snatched I feel.” But with her latest look, fans have been wondering whether Kim went under the knife to have rib removal surgery, where the eleventh and twelfth floating ribs are removed to create a slimmer waistline.
A source tells Closer, “Kim’s been going to extreme lengths for months to cinch in her waist and get it even smaller – insisting it was her mission to grab the most headlines on the catwalk and garner as much attention as possible amid her fears she’s losing her star crown.”
According to the insider, Kim underwent a non-invasive procedure called rib repositioning to help narrow her waistline. The source explains that Kim has “looked into” rib removal, and while she hasn’t ruled it out for the future, she decided against it after managing to hit her “waistline goal” with her stringent plan.
Rib removal surgery is considered a potentially deadly procedure; it leaves vital organs exposed and unprotected and can lead to infection, excessive bleeding and wound-healing problems. It would likely never be performed in the UK and most certified surgeons in America won’t perform the surgery due to the risks involved – the performance artist and LGBTQ+ activist Amanda Lepore had to travel to Mexico to get a similar procedure.
Celebrity surgeon Mark Ho-Asjoe previously told Closer that UK and European surgeons would “struggle with the ethics” of the surgery, and that “it’s a fairly complex procedure and very rare, so I suspect surgeons would be reluctant to do it in case it goes wrong on medical counts”. In the US, however, “some surgeons are willing to go to further extremes – as long as the patient is willing to pay for it,” he said.
Questions about Kim and the controversial procedure were first asked back in 2019, when Kim wore a beaded nude Thierry Mugler dress to the Met Gala. In an interview about the look, Kim said that she’d had to take breathing lessons to learn how to sit in the outfit.
She said, “I have never felt pain like that in my life. I’ll have to show you pictures of the aftermath when I took it off – the indentations on my back and my stomach.” However, she didn’t deny the rib removal rumour when asked, instead deflecting and saying that she didn’t “even know if that’s possible”.
While momager Kris Jenner has been supportive of Kim’s desire to conquer the red carpet (no matter the cost), insiders have said that her sisters have shared their worries.
“Khloé was deeply concerned as she’s been complaining about breathing issues and indigestion and she was warned about damaging her vital organs,” the insider says.
“Kim insisted ‘pain is beauty’ and said that a few minor side effects were worth enduring in order to have the extreme hourglass figure – and the global attention it sparked. But Khloé and Kourtney have urged her to take a break and stop before she inflicts any long-term damage to her health.”
And it seems like Kim might not have stopped at her torso, either. After the Met Gala, one popular Instagrammer suggested that Kim may have even been getting filler in her hands, of all places. The hands and neck often show ageing more than the face, but Kim’s hands looked suspiciously smooth at this year’s event.
The Instagram user shared pictures of Kim’s fingers at the Met Gala, with her opinion that Kim may have got hand filler, or a fat transfer, in addition to a laser resurfacing. She noted that Kim had also lost weight in recent years, but that her hands looked fuller than ever. Kim has previously admitted to feeling insecure about her “wrinkly and gross” hands.
However, others pointed out that her fuller hands could have been caused by swelling due to her “abnormally cinched” waist.
