What happened to The Weeknd’s face? Singer removes bandages to reveal ‘creepy’ plastic surgery prosthetics for new video

Fans shocked to see Grammy-winner’s new look in latest music video

The Weeknd has unveiled the latest development of his “makeover” in his music video for “Save Your Tears”.

In August last year, the R&B artist prompted concern from some fans when he took to the stage with an apparently bloodied face during the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony.

Two months later, The Weeknd – real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye – appeared at the American Music Award ceremony in November wearing bandages on his face.

Now, it appears that the two instances were a setup for his latest music video, which dropped on Tuesday (5 January).

The video for “Save Your Tears” sees the musician wearing the same red suit jacket worn at his last two public appearances. 

Having removed the surgical bandages, the singer is seen using facial prosthetics to simulate the appearance of extreme plastic surgery, including fillers around his cheekbones and lips.

Fans shared their reactions to The Weeeknd’s “new face” on Twitter. One user wrote: “Me praying the weeknd’s surgery is reversible.”

“Why does The Weeknd look like that in the Save Your Tears music video!?! I don’t like it,” wrote another user.

Some fans compared the Grammy-winner’s look to “Handsome Squidward”, an online joke lifted from an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants in which the octopus character becomes unexpectedly and excessively chiselled when a door is slammed in his face.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Recently, The Weeknd called out the Grammy Awards after the pop star walked away with zero nominations despite having multiple hits this year.  

“The Grammys remain corrupt,” he said on Twitter. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.”