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Michelle Trachtenberg called out 'haters' for unkind comments on her health weeks before death: Why do you have to hate?

Michelle Trachtenberg, who died on Wednesday, had dealt with jibes and comments about her health and appearance for months before her death.

Published on: Feb 27, 2025, 09:58:10 IST
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Actor Michelle Trachtenberg's death on Wednesday left Hollywood reeling. The 39-year-old, best known for her appearances on iconic shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, was a beloved figure in the industry. However, over the last couple of years, the actor had been dealing with health issues and even had to come out and address 'haters' after comments on her appearance online. (Also read: Why Michelle Trachtenberg's untimely passing is reminding people of Chadwick Boseman)

Michelle Trachtenberg at the 28th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on February 9, 2020, in West Hollywood, California. (File Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) (AFP)
Michelle Trachtenberg at the 28th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on February 9, 2020, in West Hollywood, California. (File Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) (AFP)

Michelle Trachtenberg's response to haters

In 2024, after many commented on Michelle's weight loss on social media, the actor took to social media to share a selfie and wrote, “Fun fact. This is my face. Not malnutrition, no problems. Why do you have to hate? Get a calendar.”

In another post later in the year, she addressed the negative comments she often received about her appearance and health and wrote, "I've received several comments recently about my appearance. I have never had plastic surgery. I am happy and healthy. Check yourself, haters." In one of the comments on the post, she wrote, "Realize I'm not 14. I'm 38." Some of the responses were as recent as the end of 2024.

Yet, the criticism continued right up until her death, with many followers leaving unkind comments about her 'jaundiced eyes' and 'chapped lips' in pictures.

Michelle Trachtenberg's death

Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. at a 51-story luxury apartment tower in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood, where officers found Trachtenberg "unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.

Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected, and the New York Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, police said. There were reports that the actor had a live transplant last yea,r but it has not been linked to her death so far.

“The family requests privacy for their loss," Trachtenberg's representative, Gary Mantoosh, said in a statement Wednesday.

Michelle Trachtenberg was a former child star who appeared in the 1996 Harriet the Spy hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl.

(With AP inputs)

  • Abhimanyu Mathur
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Abhimanyu Mathur

    Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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