UPDATE: Zellweger has publicly responded to the Internet buzz about her changing appearance. In the statement published in People magazine, Zellweger says, "I'm glad folks think I look different! I'm living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I'm thrilled that perhaps it shows."
Tuesday morning, when these red carpet pics from an Elle event Monday night hit the Internet, the jaws of entertainment journalists dropped to the floor, Bridget Jones-style.
Or maybe not Bridget Jones-style because we didn't recognize our beloved Bridget Jones.
Now, we're not critiquing the actress. This woman is beautiful and elegant and looks great. We just are legitimately still wondering if there hasn't been some kind of mistake made here. This is Zellweger just last month.
But no. It was Elle's event. And they've confirmed that this is Zellweger.
Not so shockingly, Zellweger's name was trending on Twitter in three, two, one ... there it is.
And some people might have a problem with the coverage -- like Steve Krakauer from TheBlaze, who accused BuzzFeed, HuffPost and Gawker of calling the actress "gross."
Except we actually read all their articles, Steve, and no one says "gross." No one says synonyms for "gross." We're just all flabbergasted that this is actually Zellweger.
And if you're not worried someone kidnapped Zellweger and took her place on a red carpet, well, that's on you. In fact, so many people shared the "is this really Renee" concern, Gawker had to add this update to its article:
"Since a few people are asking, allow us to be explicit: These are 100 percent photos of Zellweger (the one you are thinking of - the famous actress), from Getty photos, correctly identified as Zellweger. Other than that, there is nothing remarkable about them."
In fact, the only person who may not be concerned is Meg Ryan. Because now it's someone else's turn.
