Iran’s ‘zombie Angelina Jolie’ reveals her real face after prison release

Sahar Tabar went viral in 2017 for posting heavily-doctored photos

An Iranian woman who gained international fame for posting pictures of herself looking like ‘zombie Angelina Jolie’ has revealed her real face after being released from prison.

Sahar Tabar, whose real name is Fatemah Khishvand, was arrested on charges of blasphemy and insulting the hijab in 2019. According to the Independent, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “obscenity”.

The 22-year-old content creator was recently released after serving 14 months of her sentence, after which she sat down for an interview with Iranian outlet Rokna in which she revealed her real face. Despite going viral for images that showed with a ‘skeleton-like’ face, sunken eyes and grey pallor, Tabar is quite normal-looking in real life.

In the interview, she confirmed that the pictures were a result of editing, rather than plastic surgery. Tabar claimed that she edited her pictures using Photoshop and used makeup to create the ‘zombie Angelina Jolie’ look in order to grow her Instagram following.

She said she had undergone cosmetic procedures like lip fillers, liposuction and a nose job – but reiterated that the viral images were a result of Photoshop. “What you saw on Instagram was the computer effects I used to create the image,” she said.

“Cyberspace was an easy way. It was much easier than becoming an actor,” she said.

The content creator was released from prison amid widespread protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran’s so-called morality police on September 13 for wearing her hijab (headscarf) in an “improper” way. Her death sparked nationwide protests and huge public anger.