The media was tough on her, but she stood her ground. Standing up for aging women on Larry King Live, she told him the story about how Revlon had moved her to the “age-defying” line when she was just 34 years old.
When she had to deal with the botched surgery, it turned out that the previous doctor had been injecting Botox into her face. The new surgeon worked with her to remove it. Apparently, the claims that Botox would stop the aging process were untrue.
A Losing Streak
Melanie was not afraid of taking risks professionally. The move to Broadway paid off, but things didn’t always go that way. 'American Housewife', produced by Banderas, was not picked up by Lifetime as anticipated.
She starred in the WB TV series 'Twins', which was canceled after one season (2005-2006), and in 2007, she starred in the TV series 'Viva Laughlin', which only lasted two episodes. In a seemingly desperate move, she guest-starred on Nip/Tuck and Hot in Cleveland. By 2009 she was back in rehab again. Her publicist called it “part of a routine plan.”
Facing Criticism
It was around 2011 when the Academy Award nominee started receiving cruel comments on social media about a botched plastic surgery. At the time she said, “Most people are telling me I look horrible.” Adding, “The tweets I get are really nasty.”
She went on to explain that people were saying, “'Oh my God, what has she done?!' I was so hurt.” Then, in 2017, she opened up with Porter saying that her former doctor had made some mistakes and that a new doctor was correcting those.
Under the Knife Again
In 2017, she made the decision - Melanie would try plastic surgery again. The goal was to go through a reversal treatment provided by her new plastic surgeon that would dissolve the Botox.
It took years to reverse the Botox treatments. She told Porter, “Hopefully, I look more normal now.”
Melanie and Kris
Kris Jenner has been a wonderful friend and confidant. She was what Mel needed after going through her last divorce. When someone asked about their friendship, Melanie had this to say, “We’ve both been divorced a couple of times, we’ve had a few kids and we’ve had life-changing situations in common. I’ll be having a [bad] day, the lowest of the lows, and she’ll come over, sit on my bed and be right there with me.”
Close relationships between older women are rare. Theirs is a positive example of the benefits of that type of friendship.