Christina Ricci, Queen Latifah and 6 Other Celebrities Who’ve Had Breast Reductions

Breast reductions are on the rise. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 76,040 breast reductions were performed in 2025, a 7 percent increase from 2024, following a 54 percent jump from 2019 to 2022.

People choose breast reduction for personal reasons, ranging from physical comfort to aesthetic preference. Celebrities have been particularly open about why they chose surgery, and as the stories below show, there isn’t one universal reason for doing it. Ahead, their stories, plus expert insight into the procedure, recovery and results.

Featured Experts

• Elie Levine, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York
• Daniel Maman, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York

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Christina Ricci

When Christina Ricci was transitioning into adult roles, the attention around her changing body was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. She underwent a breast reduction at 19, according to a 2022 New York Times profile, and has since spoken candidly about why.

“I hated the whole ‘sexy’ thing, and people talking about my boobs,” she told The New Yorker in 2022. “It was just gross to me.” She has never publicly shared a before-and-after cup size, but she has been clear that the unwanted focus on her breasts played a role in her decision.

Getty Images / Emma McIntyre/Oscars

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Marie Osmond

Years before she ever talked publicly about it, Marie Osmond underwent a breast reduction in her 20s after dealing with both back pain and unwanted attention around her chest. During a 2013 appearance on The Talk, she revealed that she had been an E cup and joked about performing in The Sound of Music: “All they did was talk about the hills were alive! That’s all they saw were my boobs.” Behind the joke was a very practical reason for surgery. “Honestly, I did it too because my back hurt,” she added.

Getty Images / Roy Rochlin

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Janeane Garofalo

Long before Hollywood entered the picture, Janeane Garofalo already knew she wanted a smaller chest. She has said she spent years trying to hide her breasts and decided to have a reduction while she was in college.

“I had boobs like Dolly Parton,” she told Inked. “I did nothing but try to hide them my whole life and as soon as I was in college I was like, ‘These have got to go.’” Her decision, she has said, came down to simply never feeling comfortable with having a larger chest.

Getty Images/ Walter McBride

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Queen Latifah

Even after losing 25 pounds, Queen Latifah found that the weight of her breasts hadn’t changed. She underwent breast reduction surgery in 2003 after experiencing back and shoulder pain, later telling People, “I had lost 25 pounds and my breasts didn’t go anywhere! I was still carrying that load.” She went from an E or F cup to a DD, though she has also joked that she might have preferred to stay a little fuller. “They took one D too many!” she said.

Getty Images / Jamie McCarthy

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Amber Rose

For nearly three years, Amber Rose went back and forth about whether to have a breast reduction. Her 36H breasts were causing back pain and making it harder to exercise, but she worried about how she would feel afterward.

“I was scared that I wouldn’t feel sexy anymore, but it got to the point where I literally was in pain,” she told People. “It was almost as if I had like a heavy backpack on my chest.”

After having surgery in 2018, some of the biggest changes were surprisingly simple. She told the outlet that being able to throw on a spaghetti-strap top without thinking about the bra underneath felt liberating. “I can just throw it on and I’m like, ‘This is amazing!’” she said after her breast reduction. “I’ve been missing this my whole life.”

Getty Images / Matt Winkelmeyer

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Stassi Schroeder

Few celebrities have been as open about both the results and the scars as Stassi Schroeder. The Vanderpump Rules alum and House of Stassi star underwent a breast reduction and lift in 2015, going from a DDD to a D cup, and has called it one of the best decisions she ever made.

“My nipples are seven inches higher than they used to be and it’s awesome,” she previously told People. She has also deliberately chosen not to hide the evidence of surgery, asking that her scars not be retouched in a photo shoot and later sharing images of her breast lift scars herself.

Getty Images / Axelle/Bauer-Griffin

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Soleil Moon Frye

Soleil Moon Frye was only 16 when she chose breast reduction surgery after developing a large chest as a teenager. The physical effects were already significant. “My shoulders had indentations, I had back problems, there were so many different issues,” she told People. The attention and self-consciousness affected everyday moments, too. “It was hard for me even to give somebody a hug,” she said. “My breasts became an insecurity.”

Getty Images / Steve Granitz

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Ariel Winter

At five-foot-one, Ariel Winter said reaching a 32F as a teenager came with more than difficulty finding clothes that fit. The Modern Family star told Glamour that she was dealing with back and neck pain and trouble standing for long periods before undergoing a breast reduction at 17, taking her to a 34D.

“I got it for myself,” she said. “I can’t even really put it into words about how amazing it feels to really feel right.” After surgery, Winter said she could finally experiment with clothes instead of dressing around her chest and “actually feel confident and not just appear confident.”

Getty Images / Amanda Edwards

What Does Breast Reduction Surgery Involve?

Breast reduction, also called reduction mammaplasty, removes excess breast tissue, fat and skin and reshapes the remaining breast. The nipple and areola are typically repositioned during surgery, and the exact incision pattern depends on a patient’s anatomy and the amount of tissue being removed.

New York plastic surgeon Elie Levine, MD, says the conversation starts with much more than a desired cup size. Height, weight, breast volume, body proportions and physical symptoms all factor into the surgical plan.

“The goal is, we want your chest to look as great as it can, and we want to address those symptoms,” he says.

Cup size alone isn’t a particularly precise way to plan a breast reduction, either. Bra sizing varies by brand and band measurement, so surgeons are looking at the breast in relation to the rest of the body rather than promising a specific letter on a bra tag.

Why Do Patients Choose Breast Reduction?

Back, neck and shoulder pain are some of the most familiar complaints, but they are far from the only ones.

New York plastic surgeon Daniel Maman, MD, says patients may also experience rashes beneath the breasts, deep grooves from bra straps, trouble finding clothes and limitations with exercise and other daily activities. Some patients have none of those problems and simply prefer a smaller breast.

“Many of my patients seek breast reduction purely because of an aesthetic preference for smaller breasts,” Dr. Maman says in NewBeauty’s guide to reduction surgery. “Many women today specifically request a more petite, athletic look.”

That mix of physical and aesthetic reasons is one reason breast reduction doesn’t fit neatly into the usual cosmetic-surgery conversation. As experts explained in our look at the biggest breast reduction myths, the procedure can address pain and function while also changing breast shape, size and proportion.

Dr. Maman says the physical relief can happen quickly. “Patients feel almost instantaneous improvements in back, shoulder and neck pain and chest discomfort,” he says, adding that exercise, mobility, sleep and finding clothes that fit can also become easier.

What Is Breast Reduction Recovery Like?

Soreness, swelling and bruising are expected early on, and patients typically wear a surgical or support bra while their incisions heal. Depending on the surgeon and technique, drains may also be used.

Recovery varies, but Dr. Maman says many of his patients are surprised by how quickly they start feeling like themselves again.

“Most patients find recovery from breast reduction surgery to be much easier than anticipated,” he says. In his practice, patients may be able to work on a laptop from home within the first few days and return to office work around one week, with exercise introduced gradually. Your own surgeon’s timeline should always take precedence.

Feeling better doesn’t mean the breasts are finished healing. Swelling continues to settle, scars evolve and the final breast shape can take months to emerge. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommends following your surgeon’s specific instructions for activity, incision care and support garments throughout recovery.

And some of the restrictions are surprisingly practical. In her account of post-reduction recovery, Eva Amurri shared that she wasn’t allowed to lift her arms to blow-dry her hair while she was healing and had to avoid strenuous activity for six weeks.

What About Scars?

A breast reduction requires incisions, so some permanent scarring is part of the trade-off. Depending on the technique, scars may sit around the areola, extend vertically from the areola to the breast crease and, with larger reductions, continue horizontally along the crease beneath the breast. They typically change significantly as they mature.

Scar quality also varies from person to person, which is why looking at a surgeon’s long-term results matters. Someone who tends to form raised or darker scars may heal differently than someone whose scars become very fine and pale.

Stassi Schroeder’s willingness to show hers publicly is a good example of what scars can look like outside the highly controlled setting of a surgical before-and-after gallery. Ariel Winter has also allowed her breast-reduction scars to show on the red carpet rather than covering them.

What Should You Look for in Before-and-After Photos?

Celebrity photos are interesting, but they aren’t particularly useful for evaluating breast-reduction results. Different bras, clothes, weight changes, poses and camera angles can dramatically change how breasts look, and public photos don’t tell you how much tissue was removed or exactly how someone healed.

A surgeon’s before-and-after gallery gives you much more information.

“The key to finding the right surgeon is reviewing the surgeon’s credentials, looking at their before and after gallery, making sure they perform a high volume of breast reductions and, more importantly, to confirm that you like the aesthetic of their results,” says Dr. Maman.

Look at patients whose starting anatomy resembles yours and pay attention to breast shape, nipple position, symmetry, proportions and scars. It’s also helpful to see results taken well after surgery, not just during the first few weeks or months.

Most importantly, the consultation should be about what you want from the surgery, whether that’s relief from back pain, being able to exercise more comfortably, feeling better in clothing or simply preferring a smaller breast. That’s one thing the celebrities on this list make especially clear. Their reasons were different, but each made the decision based on what felt better for her own body.