Beverly Johnson reflects on the industry pressure and unhealthy lifestyle she once maintained to keep an extremely thin physique.
Before the era of body positivity and inclusivity, supermodels were held to a rigid standard of waif-like physical proportions, reinforcing unattainable beauty standards. In a recent interview with Page Six, Beverly Johnson, widely known as American Vogue’s first Black cover star, revealed how these industry expectations impacted her and many other models. In the 1970s and ’80s, the legendary model and actress recalled using cocaine for its appetite-suppressing effects as a means to stay skinny.
“Everyone used drugs back in the day, but that particular drug for models was used because we did not eat,” Johnson told Page Six. “…Every time you came to work, they would say, ‘Yes! Chisel to the bone, girl. Yes,’ like, congratulating you. Nobody really told you the truth.”
In normalizing the use of the drug at the time,
