11. Angelina Jolie’s Mastectomy
She rose to prominence as a teenager, the troubled daughter of acting legend Jon Voight, quickly establishing a name for herself as a sex symbol with talent to boot.
She earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Girl, Interrupted” before making the leap into dozens of successful romantic comedies and action films.
She’s since established herself as one of the most powerful philanthropists in the world, donating millions of dollars and years of effort to the less fortunate across Africa and South America.
Her marriage to Brad Pitt has become the stuff of Hollywood legend. It seems impossible the world’s biggest actress could have anything left to hide.
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Which is precisely why her double mastectomy came as such a shock.
Jolie came forward in February of 2013 about the double mastectomy she had obtained a few months earlier, completely under the noses of the press and legions of fans.
She defended the decision in an open letter to the New York Times, stating that she possesses a genetic anomaly that made her a high risk target for breast cancer, a disease which had claimed the life of her grandmother at only 45. Peers in Hollywood were supportive of her decision, as are fans if the massive box office take of “Maleficent” is any indicator.
