‘Perverse’ 1978 Brooke Shields article resurfaces online and sparks outrage

A “perverse” article about a pre-teen Brooke Shields has resurfaced online, sparking a mountain of outrage on social media.

Resurfaced Brooke Shields article from 1978 sparks outrage. Picture: Twitter

A “perverse” article about a pre-teen Brooke Shields has resurfaced online, sparking a mountain of outrage on social media.

From the opening paragraph to the closing sentence, the actress – who was just 12 when the article was written in 1978 – was hypersexualised in the piece published in the High Times, which disturbingly remains on the magazine’s online archives to this day.

“The most perfect nymphette in all creation has been found – in America. Her name is Brooke Shields,” read the opening line, written by journalist Ed Dwyer.

This Brooke Shields article from 1978 sparked outrage online. Picture: Twitter

“Brooke’s hair is elegant brown and clean, her skin pale and puritan, her eyes sinfully blue and her lean body just starting to curve into womanhood.”

The 57-year-old is currently trending after the recent release of her two-part documentary, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, in which she admitted to feeling sexualised in Hollywood as a child star. And articles like this added to her anxiety, especially when she was compared to actresses twice her age.

“She’s a sultry mix of all-American virgin and nascent wh**e,” the article continued. “She’s the hottest new young thing in movies since a smouldering pre-teen named Elizabeth Taylor stiffened up Louie Mayer’s cigar. She is only 12 years old and destined to be the sex symbol of 1964.”

Actors Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins in 1980 film Blue Lagoon.

Brooke Shields at the premiere of her documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields on March 29. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images/AFP

And the descriptions got more vulgar as the article went on.

“Unlike pugnacious Jodie Foster or puerile Tatum O’Neal, she’s the delicious stuff of teenage fantasies become flesh: barely old enough to want, but too young to get,” it read. “Sweet temptation to all by blind men and eunuchs. She’s a sister, daughter, sex object, victim, lover, tramp. We can look forward to watching her fill out over the next decade. Brooke Shields is not just another pretty baby, baby.”

The decades-old article has now been slammed on social media, with many on social media shocked and surprised it was ever originally published.

“How the f**k was this even allowed?!” wondered one Twitter user, while another said: “Couldn’t get past the first paragraph of that article. Perverse.”

Yet another commented, “Jesus Christ I feel really nauseous,” while others labelled the article, “sick and twisted”, “disgusting and “sickening”.

Originally published as ‘Perverse’ 1978 Brooke Shields article resurfaces online and sparks outrage