Celebs Reveal Dangers Of Illegal Cosmetic Surgery

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3 days ago

Getting a little work done is totally your call — but make sure you do your homework first. Seeing an unlicensed provider or trying a treatment that isn't FDA-approved (or even FDA-cleared) can come with major risks. In some cases, it can be downright dangerous.
Here are 13 celebrities who shared the shocking consequences of their illegal cosmetic procedures:
When Cardi B was 22, she got illegal biopolymer butt injections, but at 30, she had 95 percent of them surgically removed and warned her fans to never get the procedure done. In an Instagram Live, she said, "All I'm going to say is that if you're young, if you're 19, 20, 21, and sometimes you're too skinny, and you be like, 'OMG, I don't have enough fat to put in my ass,' so you result to ass shots, don't!"
In 2017, the FDA issued a warning against using injectable silicone for body contouring, citing possible side effects such as "ongoing pain and serious injuries, such as scarring, tissue death, and permanent disfigurement; if the silicone migrates beyond the injection site, it could cause an embolism (blockage of a blood vessel), stroke, infections and death." FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. said, "We have significant concerns with unsafe injectable silicone that's being marketed for body contouring by unlicensed providers. We've seen serious adverse events result from products, which are sometimes industrial-grade silicone, being used for these unapproved medical purposes."
Several years after getting illegal silicone butt injections, K. Michelle had to have four surgeries and two blood transfusions to remove them. She told People, "[The injector] wasn't a doctor — it was black market, it was these 'hydrogel' injections — that's what they were being called. When I found out my favorite rapper did it, that's when I decided, 'I'm getting it done.'"
Five years later, she started experiencing pain in her legs and back, migraines, fatigue, and other unexplainable symptoms. Eventually, her doctors found out that the silicone was spreading down her legs, so one suggested she get liposuction. She said, "He thought that you could go and suck it out, but it spread it. It's definitely a new procedure, so he didn't know... I went on tour about a week and a half later … but after a few performances, I was rushed to the emergency room." Removing the affected tissue required three additional surgeries. She said, "I had these lumps, and I was very disfigured." She planned to get reconstructive surgery.
According to Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon Dr. J. Timothy Katzen, cosmetic hydrogel injections aren't FDA-approved, and he recommends removing them before symptoms develop.
At 19, Angela White (aka Blac Chyna) got illegal silicone butt injections from someone who wasn't a real doctor. At 35, she got them removed. In an Instagram video, she said, "I just want all the ladies out there to know: Do not get silicone shots. You can get sick, you can die, have complications, and all this other crazy stuff. Normally, my procedure would've taken four hours tops. My procedure took over 8.5 hours, y'all. Whatever that silicone mass — whatever that was that was in my buttocks — it kept clogging the machine, and breaking it."
In 2022, Nicki Minaj told Joe Budden, "Social media was just beginning when I started, so I was a lot of people's guinea pig. I was one of the first people to be shitted on on the internet, on social media, like, non-fucking-stop. Every day I would go on, and there was some new story, made-up story, or bad picture. It wasn't acceptable to have surgery at all or anything. At that time, I had never had surgery. I had ass shots, which till this day, I realize, even what I did, and even with me not consulting with anyone to do something like that, how insane that was. Like, it's not that you go to a doctor, a professional person. No, it's some random person."
She felt pressured to change her body because of the other people around her. She said, "I was in Atlanta at the time and… I kept on being around [Lil] Wayne and them. At that time Wayne, he talking about big booties. Wayne would have a new chick in the studio every session, so it was always a new big booty there. They were his muses. But I just was around them all the time, and I was like the little sister with Wayne and Mack [Maine]. … All I would hear them talking about is big butts, and I didn't feel complete or good enough — good as those girls because I'm like, 'Oh my God, this is what you're supposed to look like in the rap culture,' and I don't look like that..."
She added, "I think they said stuff sometimes jokingly. But to a young girl or up-and-coming rapper … when it's from someone like Lil Wayne, it matters. So even if they're joking, they don't know that the person … is not finding it funny... They're just joking. They didn''t mean any harm. But it wasn't a joke to me."
Later, she felt responsible for perpetuating the idea that female rappers needed to look a certain way. She said, "I don't think it's the men really anymore, especially. I think it's the women. I think it's the girls, what their perception of a female rapper is. And they think this is what I have to look like. You know, like, I remember I would never see any female rapper wearing pink hair. Pink hair became a part of that 'starter kit.' Every female rapper will put on a pink wig at some point. And I remember that was just the Nicki Minaj thing. That's why when I said, 'Pink wig, thick ass,' it was, 'Oh that's an iconic Nicki Minaj line because that's what she wears.' Now it's everybody — pink wig, thick ass, right?"
When Joe asked if she held herself accountable, she answered, "Yes, yes, and I used to say — well, I was one of the first people saying, 'Oh, I'm not these people's parents.' But now I get it. I look at it from a different perspective now because superstars inadvertently become role models, no matter what. You can be the weirdest druggie in the world. If they like your music, they're listening to it over and over and over. It's programming. And they might try some of those things they hear you talk about."
Gigi Gorgeous first opened up about her experience with illegal silicone injections in her 2023 book The T Guide. Later, in a YouTube video, she said, "I experimented with silicone injections in probably, like, 2014, 2015, and I was introduced to them by a friend of mine in New York." She explained that her friend recommended "Lisa," who would administer the illegal injections in hotel rooms at "pumping parties." Her clients referred to her as their "trainer" and code-named their procedures as "workouts."
Gigi said, "It's something that I seriously, seriously regret. They can have major health effects. They can kill you. There are just so many scary things that can happen with them, and thank God that I'm alive and able to tell my story and warn people." She traveled from Canada to NYC, where she and her friend met Lisa in a hotel room. Gigi regretted not saying something when things started to feel shady — particularly when her friend brought her own silicone. Lisa brought Gigi's silicone in a water bottle, and there was "no rhyme or reason" to the way she injected. Gigi described the process as a "weird pain" she'd never felt before. Lisa closed the holes with Super Glue and Band-Aids.
Gigi continued, "We went to a cafeteria, and I remember we were at a table with a bunch of friends. And I went to the bathroom... I remember pulling up my skirt and going pee, and I was like, 'What did I just do?' I think the reality had kinda set in, and I was like, 'This is so weird. This is crazy.' I was like, 'I am not this girl. Like, I think I just made a huge mistake.' So then, I proceeded to take all the Band-Aids off, rub all the Krazy Glue off of my skin, and start squeezing the silicone out. And it's going all down the seat, all down the toilet, on the floor...I could see the product coming out of me on the floor."
Later that night, Gigi noticed she had a lot of scabs and feared she'd be left with scars because of her "mistake." However, the scabs fell off the next morning "as if nothing ever even happened." She said, "I literally swore to myself that morning that I would never ever ever dabble in any of that again." However, when work took her back to New York, she "fell back into" attending Lisa's pumping parties. She ended up with a "fucking huge" lump on her right thigh, which is when she finally decided to stop going to Lisa. She said, "I think the risks overweigh the benefits tenfold."
When DreamDoll was 20, she traveled to Colombia for her first BBL. However, it later wore off. In 2023, she told NPR, "So I went the illegal route, and it was not the best decision. I do not recommend getting butt shots. Please don't ever do it. It is so painful. It feels like you got ran off by a truck."
She ended up in the hospital. She continued, "[The pain was] a hundred. Whatever the highest number you could put, it's the highest number. Like, during the pain, I couldn't take the pain. And I was, like, getting fevers, and I'd be in a hospital. And nobody knew...they didn't know what was wrong with me, you know, 'cause I was — I didn't feel comfortable telling them I did that... So I just tried to find somebody to take it out, and they were like, that was the problem. You know, it's a foreign object, so you got to remove it one day." To help other young women, she vlogged the entire process of getting her illegal injections removed and replacing them with a new BBL.
In 2024, reality star Lauren Wood told Truly, "I got illegal injections when I was 18, and I regret it so much... I would like to reverse my illegal butt shots. I'm starting to have complications. When I first got the illegal butt shots, I was nervous because this isn't a doctor. You know, it's, like, very much black market, hush hush. You lay down on the table, and they start injecting your butt. At the end of the day, we don't know what it is that they're truly injecting. The side effects of my illegal injections is some slight discoloration, pain, and random tingling in my legs, numbness. I'm worried that, if I don't get the injections removed that they'll continue to deteriorate. You just don't know what will happen. My message to girls who are looking to do the same procedure is don't do it. It's illegal for a reason, and it's just not worth it."
In 2023, Christina Ashten Gourkani, who gained fame as a Kim Kardashian lookalike and OnlyFans creator, hired unlicensed cosmetologist Vivian Gomez to fly across the country and administer illegal butt injection in a California hotel room. Sadly, as a result of the procedure, Christina died the next day. Vivian was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter. She was also charged with practicing medicine without a license, resulting in death. Her trial date is set for November 2025.
Dr. Lisa Hwang, who's a licensed plastic surgeon, told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that there is no correct way to administer the free-floating gel used in such injections, making it risky. She also highlighted the importance of finding a certified practitioner and having a consultation. She said, "There are very specific boards, so a lot of times people will say board certified, but it's actually really important you look into which board."
In 2015, Zonnique got her eye color surgically changed (like her mother, Tiny Harris, previously did). She got the procedure done in Tunisia because it hasn't been FDA-approved in the US. Zonnique told Mosaique FM, "After surgery, I couldn't see my eyes, but this morning, I got to, and I really loved them, and I thought they looked pretty."
However, on a 2018 episode of T.I. & Tiny: Family & Friends Hustle, she revealed that she'd been experiencing eye pressure. She said, "It's been a week since I got my surgery, and I took the eye implants out so that I wouldn't have any permanent damage. When I first found out how serious the situation was, I was so emotional. It's really not something that I wanna go through again." Later, when an Instagram commenter asked her about the surgery, she reportedly said, "I've never liked to recommend anyone to do it. I can say that the experience wasn't the best in the long term but everyone is different."
In 2024, the American Academy of Ophthalmology issued a warning against eye color-changing surgery. Complications could potentially include injury to the cornea, inflammation, light sensitivity, increased eye pressure leading to glaucoma, cataracts, reduced vision, and blindness.
Priscilla Presley was a victim of Daniel Tomas Fuente Serrano, who wasn't licensed to practice in the US. According to the Guardian, he made himself a millionaire by promising to help his wealthy clients "permanently" erase their wrinkles. However, the injectables he used were actually industrial-grade silicone (the kind used to lubricate car parts) and medical silicone that was only approved for certain eye procedures. He smuggled the silicone from Argentina, used an unclean table and bottles, and didn't wear gloves. In 2006, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
In a 2008 statement, Priscilla's representative said, "Priscilla Presley was one of many documented victims of Dr. [Daniel] Serrano. An investigation which uncovered his misconduct ultimately lead to his imprisonment. Ms. Presley dealt with this matter years ago, and everything is well."
Actor Shawn King, Larry King's wife at the time, was also a victim of Daniel Serrano. According to the LA Times, in 2003, she paid him $7,000 in cash for the injections, which he gave her at her house. However, her lower lip was damaged, and the injections left a "displeasing hard bump" behind. She had difficulties speaking and drinking liquids.
In 2007, Shawn told the Washington Post, "I got a letter saying when he was going to be arraigned, and wish I would have gone back and just said, 'Daniel, tell me what you put in my face so I know what I'm living with the rest of my life.' I have two small children, and I'd like to know what I'm in for."
According to the LA Times, Diane Richie, Lionel Richie's ex-wife, was another client and victim of Daniel Serrano. However, the Washington Post later reported that she was also his girlfriend, and she was arrested for allegedly referring clients to him and letting him administer the illegal injections in her bathroom.
And finally, over the course of ten months in 2005, actor and activist Rajee Narinesingh paid Oneal Ron Morris — who was unlicensed — $3,000 for illegal injections that turned out to be a mixture of Fix-A-Flat and cement. She told Barcroft TV, "I got injections in my face, my breast, and my hips, and my buttocks... Initially, I was fine. But then the nightmare started... My message to anyone that would consider doing what I did is not to do it. Don't do it, because you could die from it, or you could end up like me, disfigured." However, on a friend's recommendation, she sought help from plastic surgeon Dr. John Martin, who worked with her to remove the injections. The process was documented on Botched Seasn 3.
In 2013, Oneal Ron Morris was sentenced to 366 days in prison for practicing healthcare without a license. Then, in 2017, she was sentenced to another ten years in prison for administering illegal injections as well as a manslaughter charge for a procedure that led to a woman's death.