Models come and go. Some stay, but not very many. I guess most people thought Gemma Ward would be one to stick around. She came on the scene in 2004 with a bang, and then remained on the top of the modeling world for the next four years. But, then she quit modeling and some pictures surfaced of her carrying a little extra weight. Now she’s back in the spotlight caught in a debate between fashion elitists who think she’s finished and more progressive fashion pundits who believe her weight-gain is a chance at new opportunities for the Australian model.
For some reason, this whole mess reminds me a bit of what happened to Mischa Barton. As the waif-thin star of “The O.C.” she was on top of the world. Now, she’s a tabloid mainstay constantly judged for her weight. But the modeling and acting worlds are different, if ever so slightly. And, well, Mischa had some other missteps along the way. Gemma hasn’t been caught smoking dope while driving around L.A. At least, not that I know of. She just happened to resurface in New York after a long absence weighing a little more than usual.
Many people attribute Gemma’s disappearance from the modeling world and subsequent weight gain to the death of her reported one-time boyfriend Heath Ledger. What is baffling is that no one seems to be considering the possibility that maybe Gemma just doesn’t want to model anymore. People are talking about her chances of ever becoming a model again, either plus-size or straight-size, like those are her only options. But she’s been in a few films and that seems to be a career she’s actively pursuing. Or maybe she wants to do something else. The modeling biz can go take a hike. And, if she was so distraught over Heath Ledger’s death that she quit the business, should the choices she made because of that grief really be something to gossip and debate about in the press? Nope.
Photo via MIKE DISCIULLO/Bauer-Griffin
Thumbnail photo via Vogue
