Chloe Grace Moretz has hit a Family Guy meme that shows her walking into a hotel carrying a pizza box, and blames him for the body dysmorphia that she says has led to her becoming “a recluse.”
The 25-year-old actress, who has been famous for more than half her life, said she struggled to overcome the meme’s relapses and suffered from panic attacks as a result.
Speaking to the Hunger fashion magazine, Moretz said she first experienced “self-loathing” after appearing on a red carpet when she was 18 and continued to seek therapy.
She was a child star, whose role in Kick-Ass at 12 brought her worldwide fame, as did her two-year romance with Brooklyn Beckham from 2014. But her rise to fame was followed by a ‘ negative attention online.
“Then came the onslaught of horrible memes that started being sent to me on my body,” Moretz said.
“There was a meme that really hit me, about me walking into a hotel with a pizza box in my hand.”
The image, which went viral, was manipulated to resemble a character from Family Guy with long legs and a short torso.
He continued: “Everyone was making fun of my body and I pulled it out with someone and they were like, ‘Oh, shut up, it’s fun.’
“And I just remember sitting there and thinking, my body is being used as a joke and it’s something I can’t change who I am, and it’s posted on Instagram.
“It was something as benign as walking into a hotel with leftovers. And to this day, when I see that meme, it’s something very difficult for me to overcome.
“After that, I was a little sad. It took a layer of something I liked, which was dressing up, going on a rug and taking a picture, and it made me super embarrassed.
“And I think body dysmorphia – which we all have to deal with in this world – is extrapolated from the problems of social media.”
She said the result was that she withdrew into herself: “I’ve basically become a recluse.” The break from being photographed then made things difficult when she got back in front of the camera.
“It made me very anxious when I was photographed. My heart rate went up and I hyperventilated.”
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Moretz also said he hoped to get behind the camera in the future, instead of “always being in front”, enjoying the “freedom” of the less visible role.
Moretz has starred in more than 50 films and stars in the first TV series of his career.
The Peripheral, an eight-part science fiction series about time travel, will air on Amazon on October 21.
