An Iranian woman who became famous on Instagram for posting spooky photos resembling Hollywood actor Angelia Jolie has revealed her real face after her release from jail. Sahar Tabar was arrested in October 2019 on charges of "corruption" and "blasphemy" and sentenced to 10 years in prison. But she was released after 14 months after widespread protests in the country, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini last month. Ms Tabar was widely believed to have undergone cosmetic surgery, which made her look like the spooky version of Angelina Jolie.
After her release, the 21-year-old finally showed her real self to cameras this week, according to a report in Independent.
Many people had launched campaigns on social media for her release. Among them is activist Masih Alinejad. When she was jailed, Ms Alinejad had tweeted: "Sahar Tabar is only 19. Her joke landed her in jail. Her mother cries every day to get her innocent daughter freed. Dear Angelina Jolie, we need your voice here. Help us."
After being released from jail, Ms Tabar said she had undergone some cosmetic procedures, like a nose job, lip fillers and liposuction, but stressed that the infamous images were a result of make-up and editing on Photoshop. Due to her spooky photos, she was called "zombie Angelina Jolie" on social media.
"What you saw on Instagram was the computer effects I used to create the image," she told a state-run outlet, as reported by news.com.au.
Ms Tabar, whose real name is Fatemeh Khishvand, said she always wanted to become famous and chose the macabre makeover to gain international attention. The woman also said that cyberspace provided an easy way. "It was much easier than becoming an actor," the outlet further quoted her as saying.
Ms Tabar also said that the images were created as a "joke" and expressed regret. "My mother was telling me to stop, but I didn't listen."
