It appears that a 21-year-old woman who became known on social media as the 'Zombie Angelina Jolie' looks like any ordinary young woman - despite previous claims that she underwent surgery to achieve a gaunt, ghoulish appearance.
She made headlines in 2020 after it was reported that she had been sentenced to 10 years in prison in her native Iran over her social media presence, which involved her sharing photos of her distorted face online.
Per The Guardian, the sentence came one year after Sahar Tabar, whose real name is Fatemeh Khishvand, was arrested. She was found guilty of the corruption of young people and disrespect for the Islamic Republic. Previous initial charges of blasphemy and inciting violence were later thrown out.
Days after she was sentenced, Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad revealed that she had spoken to Tabar's lawyer, and learned that the then 19-year-old was released following "massive media pressure", the MailOnline reported.
Alinejad also shared a tweet that read: "Today the Iranian teenager who posted heavily distorted images of herself online was jailed for 10 years has been freed after massive media pressure."
Speaking to The Sun, Tabar's layer, Saied Dehgan, revealed that she was freed on bail after serving roughly 15 months of jail time.
Surrounded by her family, Tabar appeared on Rokna.net and spoke about her distorted social media snaps. The social media star admitted to using a mix of Photoshop and make-up as a "joke" in order to achieve the striking look.
Tabar speaks out during a previous interview on Iranian TV:Tabar first went viral back in 2017 after sharing pictures of her gaunt, discolored, and distorted face on social media - leading to many people and publications dubbing her the 'Zombie Angelina Jolie'.
But images - which are said to be of Tabar's real, unedited appearance - have since surfaced online:
The New York Post reported that Tamar once claimed to have undergone "50 surgeries".
But after amassing upwards of 500,000 followers on Instagram, she later appeared to confirm that she had used digital editing tools and makeup to enhance her bizarre appearance in a post captioned: "People are probably living in the 18th century and they haven’t seen or heard of technology or make-up and they are really surprised."
Tabar's attorneys had previously tried to secure her release after she became ill with coronavirus while in jail, BBC News reports.
Furthermore, Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad even asked actress Angelina Jolie herself to help the young incarcerated woman.
"Islamic Republic has a history of tormenting women," she said. "We need to be united against this gender apartheid."