People really thought he’d ruined his face. Remember that? Back in late 2020 and early 2021, you couldn't scroll through Twitter or Instagram without seeing Abel Tesfaye—better known as The Weeknd—sporting a face full of gauze, bruising, and eventually, some pretty terrifying prosthetic enhancements. It sparked a massive wave of searches about the Weeknd before plastic surgery because, honestly, the transition looked permanent to the untrained eye.
He looked like a botched Ken doll. His cheekbones were sharp enough to slice glass, and his lips were puffed up to a point that felt deeply uncomfortable. But here’s the thing: it was all a lie. A brilliant, expensive, multi-month performance art piece.
The Face We Used to Know
Before the After Hours era turned him into a walking cautionary tale of cosmetic enhancement, Abel had one of the most recognizable "vibes" in R&B. If you look at photos of the Weeknd before plastic surgery rumors began, you see the evolution of a kid from Scarborough. In the House of Balloons days, he was the guy with the palm-tree hair, usually obscured by shadows or grainy lo-fi filters. By Beauty Behind the Madness, he was a global superstar, but his facial structure remained exactly what it had always been—soft features, a rounded jawline, and that signature expressive brow.
He didn't have the chiseled, "supermodel" look that the prosthetics eventually gave him. He looked like a normal guy who happened to make incredible music about doing too many drugs in Las Vegas.
Why the World Panicked
The "surgery" saga didn't happen overnight. It was a slow burn. It started at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards where he appeared with a bloodied face and a broken nose. Most fans figured it was just promo for the "Blinding Lights" music video. Then came the American Music Awards. He showed up entirely wrapped in bandages. Like a mummy.
That's when the internet lost its collective mind.
The speculation about the Weeknd before plastic surgery vs. after started peaking. People weren't just curious; they were convinced he’d gone under the knife to fix his nose or jaw during the pandemic downtime. When the "Save Your Tears" music video finally dropped, featuring Abel with grotesque, hyper-exaggerated facial features, the narrative shifted from "did he?" to "why did he?"
He looked like he’d been to a surgeon who didn't know when to stop. The cheek implants were massive. The skin looked pulled back toward his ears. It was a perfect satire of Hollywood's obsession with youth and "perfection," but because he stayed in character for so long, the line between reality and performance blurred for the general public.
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The Real Story Behind the Prosthetics
It was all fake. Mike Marino and his team at Prosthetic Renaissance were the architects behind the "New Abel." They’ve worked on films like The Batman and Coming 2 America, so they know how to make skin look real. They used medical-grade silicone appliances to create the illusion of a man who had completely rebuilt his face through surgery.
Abel eventually told Variety that the whole point was to showcase the "absurd culture of Hollywood celebrities and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated." He was playing a character. The character was a man who had spiraled so far into the "After Hours" lifestyle that he literally tried to carve a new identity into his own skull.
If you compare the "Save Your Tears" look to the Weeknd before plastic surgery rumors, the contrast is hilarious in hindsight. One is a guy with a slightly crooked smile and natural aging; the other is a caricature of vanity.
Debunking the Permanent Rumors
Did he actually get any work done? This is where things get nuanced. While the extreme look was definitely prosthetics, people still analyze his face today to see if he snuck in a little Botox or a minor rhinoplasty while the world was distracted by the bandages.
Honestly? There isn't much evidence for it.
When he performed at the Super Bowl LV halftime show, the bandages came off, and he looked... like Abel. His nose still had the same bridge. His jawline hadn't magically sharpened into a permanent V-shape. He just looked like the guy from 2015, maybe a little older, maybe a little more tired from carrying the most successful album of the year on his back.
Experts in the field of cosmetic surgery, like Dr. Anthony Youn, have frequently pointed out that real surgical recovery doesn't look like what The Weeknd portrayed. Real swelling takes months to subside, and the "Save Your Tears" look was physically impossible to achieve through actual surgery without leaving devastating, permanent scarring that would be visible in high-definition concert footage.
The Impact of the "New Face"
This wasn't just a stunt for the sake of being weird. It was a commentary. By leaning so hard into the plastic surgery narrative, Abel forced his audience to look at the "before" and "after" and realize how much we value the "before."
We like our stars to stay frozen in time. When we thought he’d changed his face, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. It was a "look what they did to my boy" moment for the entire internet. But it also proved that he is one of the few modern pop stars willing to sacrifice his "pretty boy" image for a cohesive artistic vision. Most singers want to look their best on camera. He wanted to look his worst to tell a better story.
What to Look for Today
If you’re still scouring the web for "the Weeknd before plastic surgery" photos to find a "gotcha" moment, you’re probably going to be disappointed. He’s back to his natural look, or at least as natural as a multi-millionaire can be. He might use high-end skin treatments or the occasional filler—who knows—but the "botched" look was a temporary masterpiece of makeup.
Actionable Insights for the Curious:
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- Check the ears: In the "Save Your Tears" video, if you look closely at the hairline and around the ears, you can occasionally spot where the silicone appliances meet the real skin.
- Watch the Super Bowl performance: This is the ultimate "reveal." No bandages, no prosthetics, just his actual face under harsh stadium lighting. It’s the best evidence that the surgery was a sham.
- Compare his 2011 "Trilogy" photos to 2024: You'll see natural maturation—a slightly fuller face, different facial hair—but the structural integrity of his features remains consistent.
- Follow Mike Marino on Instagram: He often posts the behind-the-scenes sculpts of the prosthetics used on Abel, which settles the "is it real?" debate once and for all.
The whole saga remains one of the greatest trolls in music history. He took a common celebrity trope—the "secret" plastic surgery—and turned it into a year-long horror movie. Next time you see a celebrity in bandages, maybe don't believe the headlines immediately. They might just be preparing for their next Grammy performance.