Kate Beckinsale explains mysterious six-week hospital stay

Kate Beckinsale explains her mysterious six-week hospital stay: ‘stress and grief’

Kate Beckinsale posing in front of a plum-colored backdrop in a cream V-neck sweater dress with a lacy collar and bow tie

July 10, 2024 4:02 PM PT

In her most recent clapback at online body-shamers, Kate Beckinsale shed more light on the health issues that landed her in the hospital earlier this year.

The “Underworld” star said in March that she had been hospitalized. At the time, she didn’t disclose the reason for what turned out to be a six-week admittance, but she has since offered clarification in a pair of Instagram replies.

Beckinsale on Tuesday posted an Instagram reel in which she donned a bright-pink bikini bottom, matching crop top and black platform boots while snidely noting how her fans “don’t feel I’m doing age-appropriate things.”

Among the comments on the video was one that said, “Go do some squats @katebeckinsale” because she was too thin.

In response, the British actress wrote: “No, actually, I watched my stepfather die quite shockingly, my mother has stage 4 cancer, and I lost a lot of weight from stress and grief,” adding that she stayed in the hospital for six weeks because “the grief had burned a hole in my oesophagus [sic] which made me vomit blood.” Thus, she said, eating became “very hard.”

Beckinsale added that she recently filmed a movie that was “quite triggering” because it involved the theme of a father’s death.

“So I’m not really concerned about what you think ... ,” she wrote.

The exchange comes after a similar one unfolded two months prior.

In a May 24 Instagram reel, Beckinsale shared some behind-the-scenes footage from her upcoming movie “Stolen Girl.” Several commenters expressed concerns about the actress’ apparent weight loss.

“Sorry to say this Kate, but you do look a bit thin.. You always striked [sic] a great balance.. But when your cheekbones start to grow, the balance is lost,” one user wrote.

Beckinsale replied that she was weathering “unbearable losses,” including the deaths of her stepfather Roy Battersby and her “soulmate cat of almost 19 years.” She added in her reply that her weight loss stemmed from an esophageal tear — and a “severe flare of my mast cell disease” exacerbated by “stress , shock and grief.”

“What you think of my appearance and how I should look, independently of any circumstances in my life and my family’s is not important,” she wrote. “I don’t care what your taste in women is. I care that you think any of us need to be apprised of it . I will not address this again. Do better.”

Beckinsale returned to the red carpet in May at the King’s Trust Global Gala in New York City, where she told People she had had a “rough year.”

“That’s why it’s nice to come and see friends and have a little perspective. Everyone’s had a bit of a rough year, I think,” she said.