5 bombshell revelations from Brooke Shields' new memoir — From Tom Cruise to fat-shaming

In her memoir, Shields shares a deeply personal story about a miscarriage she had in her 30s where the mother of two experienced health complications in her reproductive organs.

 

During the procedure to remove abnormal tissue from her cervix, her doctors found additional cells which led to them removing most of her cervix. Shields writes that it felt like her "entire uterus had fallen onto the bathroom floor" and that the surgery led to scar tissue that made it difficult for her to conceive.

 

"I became pregnant — only to miscarry three months later. And what ensued was probably the worst twelve straight hours of my life," she writes of her experience with IVF.

 

"The miscarriage was so violent and excruciatingly painful that when it came time for a second IVF attempt I actually asked my doctor, 'Do you think it hurt so much because the scar tissue was getting stretched? Is that possible??"

 

Shields explains that her female fertility specialist told her it would be difficult to get pregnant after the procedure and her first doctor, a man, did not detail the risks.

 

"Had I been aware of the risks, I could have made other choices to support my fertility," Shields writes.

 

In 2005, Tom Cruise went on the "Today Show" with Matt Lauer where he notoriously ranted about Scientology, psychology and antidepressants. During the conversation, Lauer brought up that Shields shared in her memoir that antidepressants helped her postpartum depression. A combative Cruise said Shields was spreading “misinformation” and falsely claimed, “There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance.” 

 

The heated interview between Lauer and Cruise made headlines and currently has 13 million views on the "Today Show" YouTube channel.

 

Immediately after the incident, Shields addressed Cruise's comments in a New York Times op-ed titled, "War of Words," a direct reference to Cruise's 2005 film "War Of The Worlds."

 

In her new memoir, Shields reveals that she was "gobsmacked" by Cruise's comments, adding his perspective was “an interesting opinion, coming from someone without ovaries."

 

“Had Tom taken a public swing at me before I became a mother, I probably would have stayed quiet,” Shields writes. “I would have ignored his ridiculous rant. I might have been content to sit back while this very famous man hijacked my experience to advance his own (deluded) agenda.”

 

Shields continues, “Sitting quietly and letting myself be attacked might have been my approach a decade earlier — I might have even regretted sharing my story or felt insecure that maybe my career was stalling while a powerful male movie star was singling me out, sure that I’d never stand a chance in that fight — but now I was emboldened by life experience."

 

Cruise eventually apologized, which Shields comments on, writing, “Not publicly, which would have been the right thing to do, but he came to my house and said he was sorry and that he felt cornered by Matt Lauer and that he attacked me, basically, because he could."

 

“It wasn’t the world’s best apology, but it’s what he was capable of, and I accepted it,” Shields writes.

 

Shields holds nothing back when discussing her relationship and marriage with her first husband, Andre Agassi.

 

The pair met after a tennis match in 1993. Three years later, the couple were engaged and married in 1997. However, the tumultuous marriage did not last long, ending just two years later in 1999.

 

"I’m glad I never got pregnant with my first husband because it would have been a disaster," Shields writes. "When we got divorced he made that very clear. 'Be thankful we didn’t have children,' he said, 'because I would not have made this easy for you.'"

 

In response to his cold remarks, she writes, "Well, thank you for that tidbit, I thought. You just made this particular transition much easier!"

Before their bitter split, Shields details that Agassi would make comments on her body which contributed to her looming body image issues.

 

“I was very specifically told I was not runway worthy because I wasn’t skinny enough,” she writes. “Being told you are ‘the face,’ you begin to believe that’s all you are—a face. From the neck up, I was Brooke Shields, but it was like my body existed in a different reality.”

 

The star reveals that she attempted to bring her concerns to her husband but “He would always say, ‘I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.’"

 

“However when I said, ‘Will you still love me if I’m big and fat?’ (I meant once I got pregnant—an unfair question for anybody to ask another person I know!) I could never have expected his response.”

 

Shields writes that his response to that was, “'I love you too much to let you get big and fat,'"

 

“I definitely did not see that coming and must admit I started to spin a bit. But we all know how that relationship turned out," she adds.

 

In 2023, Shields experienced a seizure while dining in a New York City restaurant. Immediately, the star found fellow actor Bradley Cooper, who held her and rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital. 

 

“The next thing I remember, I’m being loaded into an ambulance. I have oxygen on. And Bradley f***ing Cooper is sitting next to me holding my hand,” she said to Glamour Magazine after the incident. 

 

“I couldn’t really get any words out. But I thought to myself, ‘This is what death must be like.’ You wake up and Bradley Cooper’s going, ‘I’m going to go to the hospital with you, Brooke,’ and he’s holding my hand. And I’m looking at my hand, I’m looking at Bradley Cooper’s hand in my hand, and I’m like, ‘This is odd and surreal.’”

 

In her memoir, Shields writes, “I was informed that not only did I have a grand mal seizure, but I also had peed my pants. (Fun fact: the only thing worse than peeing your pants is being told after the fact that you peed your pants while being held by Bradley Cooper.)"