Ricki Lake says longtime friend Rosie O’Donnell initially judged her decision to get a facelift in 2024, only to later undergo the same procedure after losing weight herself.

Lake, 58, discussed the experience while co-hosting an episode of “The Weekend View,” where she opened up about why she chose cosmetic surgery after losing 40 pounds.

She said the weight loss happened naturally and without pharmaceutical assistance.

Lake explained that after losing the weight, the lower portion of her face and neck had changed enough that she wanted to address it surgically.

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"I was not trying to reverse the clock and look like I'm 20," she explained. "I have my natural gray hair. I really own my age and I love the age I'm at."

Lake said she was pleased with the results, though not everyone close to her initially supported the decision.

According to Lake, O’Donnell, whom she described as “a really good friend,” reacted somewhat critically when she learned Lake had decided to have the procedure.

"She would admit it that she was judgy of myself and a few of my friends that went to this doctor and had these amazing results," Lake said. "She's like, 'Why do you need it?' And then, sure enough, she lost a bunch of weight on Mounjaro, and she went and had it done."

O’Donnell later confirmed that she had undergone the procedure as well.

In a Substack post shared in May, O’Donnell revealed that she had gotten a facelift. She also discussed the decision at length on Instagram, explaining that she had previously viewed cosmetic surgery very differently.

O’Donnell wrote that she had effectively placed herself "as head of all women who would never - ever" get a facelift.

She said she once viewed the procedure as "a betrayal" of feminism, aging and "of our team of women worldwide."

That position changed after O’Donnell lost 50 pounds.

"It wasn’t wrinkles—it was gravity," she wrote. "I’d look in the mirror and think, this isn’t aging, this is … melting with intention."

Lake also shared more details about her own procedure while appearing on “The View.”

She said she did not have work done around her eyes. Instead, she chose "a deep-plane lower face and neck lift and a CO2 laser."

Lake also publicly credited the surgeon who performed the work.

"I'm thrilled with my results. And I love my doctor. And I'm not gonna gate keep here. Dr. Alan Foulad in Los Angeles. He's very special," she said. "He's wonderful, and he's a master."

Lake had previously discussed the procedure in March during an appearance on the “Inside Edit” podcast.

At the time, she admitted that she moved forward with the surgery without doing extensive research.

She said she "didn't do any research" before deciding "very impulsively to have my face done."

According to Lake, the process moved quickly once she decided to pursue the procedure.

She had a consultation in mid-June and then scheduled the surgery for mid-July.

Lake said she "never looked back."

Her decision, she explained, was tied to the physical changes that followed her 40-pound weight loss rather than an effort to appear dramatically younger.

"I had just lost 40 pounds, and I had this hanging," she said, pointing to the area under her chin. "And it wasn't just like that I didn't like what I saw or wanted to look younger. I have gray hair. It's not about that. It's like, I had an appendage hanging that wasn't going to grow back, like come back up."

Lake has continued to emphasize that she is comfortable with aging and did not view the facelift as an attempt to hide her age.

Her comments about O’Donnell, meanwhile, highlighted how both women changed their perspectives on cosmetic surgery after significant weight loss.

Lake chose the procedure after losing 40 pounds, while O’Donnell said her own thinking shifted after losing 50 pounds on Mounjaro.

What began as skepticism from O’Donnell ultimately ended with both women deciding that the same type of procedure made sense for them after their respective weight-loss experiences.

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