At 48, Charlize Theron’s see-through gown for Oscars after party ignites reactions from fans

Being a celebrity these days must be difficult, as every action and choice is closely examined and shared for the entire world to debate.

Maybe that has always been the case—leading a life in the public eye has always entailed drawing attention from cameras and flashing lights—but the emphasis is sharper now than it was decades ago because of sensationalized social media headlines and viral material.

A-list celebrities are scrutinized not only for their words and deeds but also for their attire, and this is especially true during the awards season. The 96th Academy Awards were held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles last weekend, and as was to be expected, it was a highly publicized event.

A who’s who of stars and movie industry heavyweights graced the red carpet, and you can bet your bottom dollar that their costume selections were dissected like participants in a massive fashion design test on the internet.

One celebrity whose appearance was subjected to an especially close examination was Charlize Theron, who attracted attention with her shimmering black outfit.

The actress looked absolutely stunning at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party this year, but her ensemble generated a lot of discussion online as fans disagreed on whether it was a hit or miss.

CHARLIZE THERON attends the Radhika Jones-hosted 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California on March 10, 2024. (Image courtesy of Lionel Hahn/Getty Images))

As soon as the 48-year-old’s images appeared on social media, others started to leave disparaging comments. Her choice to wear a see-through outfit that exposed her panties was praised by some. Others weren’t as much.

“You look amazing in all of the pictures, are there any bad ones?”Someone penned something.

Stunningly beautiful, another person said.

A third made the joke, “This woman is stunningly gorgeous.”

“This woman is just amazing, with great dedication to acting, producing, and social assistance,” remarked a fourth.

As is usually the case when public figures reveal themselves to the public, Theron’s appearance was praised by a number of critics as well.

Someone wrote, “Not a good choice.”

Another said, “You look great, but this clothing is awful [sic].”

A third said, “Yuk—too thin.”

“I am her fan, but I don’t like her hair here. She’s so skinny and the dress, hmm, no,” commented another.

PARIS, FRANCE – FEBRUARY 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY – Please get Fashion House permission for non-editorial use.) On February 28, 2023, in Paris, France, Charlize Theron attends the Christian Dior Womenswear Fall Winter 2023–2024 fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week. (Image courtesy of Stephane Cardinale via Getty Images via Corbis/Corbis))

Theron has already given candid speeches about her style choices and encouraged others to always follow their emotions.

She said to People last year, “I think there should be no faux pas.”

“I truly believe that it’s not a faux pas if you just go by how you feel and how much you love it.”

The actress commented at the time, “I mean, there are a lot of dresses that I know people didn’t like, but I’m like, I looked at myself in the mirror that night and I was feeling myself,” in reference to the ensembles that sparked a strong reaction from critics.

Charlize Theron looked amazing at the Oscars, in my opinion! Share your opinions with us in the comments section.

I Was Looking At a Photo of My Late Wife and Me When Something Fell Out of the Frame and Made Me Go Pale

The day I buried Emily, all I had left were our photos and memories. But when something slipped from behind our engagement picture that night, my hands started shaking. What I discovered made me question if I’d ever really known my wife at all.

The funeral home had tied a black ribbon on our front door. I stared at it, my key suspended in the lock, wondering who’d thought that was necessary.

A black ribbon attached to a doorknob | Source: Midjourney

A black ribbon attached to a doorknob | Source: Midjourney

As if the neighbors didn’t already know that I’d been at the cemetery all afternoon, watching them lower my wife into the ground while Rev. Matthews talked about angels and eternal rest.

My hands shook as I finally got the door open. The house smelled wrong — like leather polish and sympathy casseroles.

Emily’s sister Jane had “helped” by cleaning while I was at the hospital during those final days. Now everything gleamed with an artificial brightness that made my teeth hurt.

A home entrance hallway | Source: Pexels

A home entrance hallway | Source: Pexels

“Home sweet home, right, Em?” I called out automatically, then caught myself. The silence that answered felt like a physical blow.

I loosened my tie, the blue one Emily had bought me last Christmas, and kicked off my dress shoes. They hit the wall with dull thuds.

Emily would have scolded me for that, pressing her lips together in the way she had, trying not to smile while she lectured me about scuff marks.

A heartbroken man looking down | Source: Midjourney

A heartbroken man looking down | Source: Midjourney

“Sorry, honey,” I muttered, but I left the shoes where they lay.

Our bedroom was worse than the rest of the house. Jane had changed the sheets — probably trying to be kind — but the fresh linen smell just emphasized that Emily’s scent was gone.

The bed was made with hospital corners, every wrinkle smoothed away, erasing the casual mess that had been our life together.

“This isn’t real,” I said to the empty room. “This can’t be real.”

A bedroom | Source: Pexels

A bedroom | Source: Pexels

But it was. The sympathy cards on the dresser proved it, as did the pills on the nightstand that hadn’t been enough to save her in the end.

It had all happened so suddenly. Em got sick last year, but she fought it. Chemotherapy took an immense toll on her, but I was there to support her every step of the way. The cancer eventually went into remission.

We thought we’d won. Then a check-up showed it was back, and it was everywhere.

A couple staring grimly at each other | Source: Midjourney

A couple staring grimly at each other | Source: Midjourney

Em fought like a puma right up until the end, but… but it was a losing battle. I could see that now.

I fell onto her side of the bed, not bothering to change out of my funeral clothes. The mattress didn’t even hold her shape anymore. Had Jane flipped it? The thought made me irrationally angry.

“Fifteen years,” I whispered into Emily’s pillow. “Fifteen years, and this is how it ends? A ribbon on the door and casseroles in the fridge?”

A heartbroken man | Source: Midjourney

A heartbroken man | Source: Midjourney

My eyes landed on our engagement photo, the silver frame catching the late afternoon light. Emily looked so alive in it, her yellow sundress bright against the summer sky, her laugh caught mid-burst as I spun her around.

I grabbed it, needing to be closer to that moment and the joy we both felt then.

“Remember that day, Em? You said the camera would capture our souls. Said that’s why you hated having your picture taken, because—”

My fingers caught on something behind the frame.

A man holding a photo | Source: Midjourney

A man holding a photo | Source: Midjourney

There was a bump under the backing that shouldn’t have been there.

I traced it again, frowning. Without really thinking about what I was doing, I pried the backing loose. Something slipped out, floating to the carpet like a fallen leaf.

My heart stopped.

It was another photograph, old and slightly curved as if it had been handled often before being hidden away.

A stunned man | Source: Midjourney

A stunned man | Source: Midjourney

In the photo, Emily (God, she looked so young) was sitting in a hospital bed, cradling a newborn wrapped in a pink blanket.

Her face was different than I’d ever seen it: exhausted, and scared, but with a fierce love that took my breath away.

I couldn’t understand what I was looking at. Although we tried, Emily and I were never able to have kids, so whose baby was this?

A confused man | Source: Midjourney

A confused man | Source: Midjourney

With trembling fingers, I turned the photo over. Emily’s handwriting, but shakier than I knew it: “Mama will always love you.”

Below that was a phone number.

“What?” The word came out as a croak. “Emily, what is this?”

There was only one way to find out.

A thoughtful man | Source: Midjourney

A thoughtful man | Source: Midjourney

The phone felt heavy in my hand as I dialed, not caring that it was nearly midnight. Each ring echoed in my head like a church bell.

“Hello?” A woman answered, her voice warm but cautious.

“I’m sorry for calling so late.” My voice sounded strange to my ears. “My name is James. I… I just found a photograph of my wife Emily with a baby, and this number…”

The silence stretched so long I thought she’d hung up.

A man speaking on his phone | Source: Midjourney

A man speaking on his phone | Source: Midjourney

“Oh,” she finally said, so softly I almost missed it. “Oh, James. I’ve been waiting for this call for years. It’s been ages since Emily got in touch.”

“Emily died.” The words tasted like ashes. “The funeral was today.”

“I’m so sorry.” Her voice cracked with genuine grief. “I’m Sarah. I… I adopted Emily’s daughter, Lily.”

The room tilted sideways. I gripped the edge of the bed. “Daughter?”

A shocked man | Source: Midjourney

A shocked man | Source: Midjourney

“She was nineteen,” Sarah explained gently. “A freshman in college. She knew she couldn’t give the baby the life she deserved. It was the hardest decision she ever made.”

“We tried for years to have children,” I said, anger suddenly blazing through my grief. “Years of treatments, specialists, disappointments. She never said a word about having a baby before me. Never.”

“She was terrified,” Sarah said. “Terrified you’d judge her, terrified you’d leave. She loved you so much, James. Sometimes love makes us do impossible things.”

A man on a phone call | Source: Midjourney

A man on a phone call | Source: Midjourney

I closed my eyes, remembering her tears during fertility treatments, and how she’d grip my hand too tight whenever we passed playgrounds.

I’d assumed it was because we were both so desperate to have a child, but now I wondered how much of that came from longing for the daughter she gave up.

“Tell me about her,” I heard myself say. “Tell me about Lily.”

A man speaking on his phone | Source: Midjourney

A man speaking on his phone | Source: Midjourney

Sarah’s voice brightened. “She’s twenty-five now. A kindergarten teacher, if you can believe it. She has Emily’s laugh, her way with people. She’s always known she was adopted, and she knows about Emily. Would… would you like to meet her?”

“Of course!” I replied.

The next morning, I sat in a corner booth at a café, too nervous to touch my coffee. The bell above the door chimed, and I looked up.

It was like being punched in the chest.

A man in a coffeeshop | Source: Midjourney

A man in a coffeeshop | Source: Midjourney

She had Emily’s eyes and her smile. She even tucked her hair behind her ear like Em would’ve as she scanned the room. When our gazes met, we both knew.

“James?” Her voice wavered.

I stood, nearly knocking over my chair. “Lily.”

She rushed forward, wrapping her arms around me like she’d been waiting her whole life to do it. I held her close, breathing in the scent of her shampoo — lavender, just like Emily’s had been.

Two people hugging | Source: Midjourney

Two people hugging | Source: Midjourney

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered against my shoulder. “When Mom called this morning… I’ve always wondered about you, about what kind of man my mother married.”

We spent hours talking. She showed me pictures on her phone of her college graduation, her first classroom, and her cat. I told her stories about Emily, our life together, and the woman her mother became.

“She used to send Mom birthday cards for me every year,” Lily revealed, wiping tears from her eyes.

A woman in a coffeeshop smiling sadly | Source: Midjourney

A woman in a coffeeshop smiling sadly | Source: Midjourney

“We never spoke, but Mom told me she used to call now and then to ask how I was doing.”

Looking at this beautiful, brilliant young woman who had Emily’s kindness shining in her eyes, I began to understand Emily’s secret differently.

It wasn’t just shame or fear that had kept her quiet. She’d been protecting Lily by letting her have a safe, stable life with Sarah. It must have hurt Em deeply to keep this secret, but she’d done it out of love for her child.

A thoughtful man | Source: Midjourney

A thoughtful man | Source: Midjourney

“I wish I’d known sooner,” I said, reaching for Lily’s hand. “But I think I understand why she never told me. I’m so sorry you can’t get to know her, but I want you to know, I’ll always be here for you, okay?”

Lily squeezed my fingers. “Do you think… could we maybe do this again? Get to know each other better?”

“I’d like that,” I said, feeling something warm bloom in my chest for the first time since Emily’s death. “I’d like that very much.”

A man smiling in a coffeeshop | Source: Midjourney

A man smiling in a coffeeshop | Source: Midjourney

That night, I placed the hidden photo next to our engagement picture on the nightstand.

Emily smiled at me from both frames — young and old, before and after, always with love in her eyes. I touched her face through the glass.

“You did good, Em,” I whispered. “You did real good. And I promise you, I’ll do right by her. By both of you.”

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