The internet has developed a certain kind of cruelty over time, and it usually finds its sharpest edge when directed at women whose bodies change in public. Before anyone realized the true cause of her changing appearance, Erin Moriarty, best known as Annie January, the conflicted, radiant Starlight in Amazon’s The Boys, endured a version of this for years. The internet had already expended a lot of energy labeling her a “skeleton,” a “Botox zombie,” and worse by the time she revealed her Graves’ disease diagnosis in June 2025. Everything was put in a new context by the diagnosis. In hindsight, it didn’t make the commentary any less repulsive. In fact, it made it even more so.
The previous month, in May 2025, Moriarty disclosed on Instagram that she had received a Graves’ disease diagnosis. The thyroid gland overproduces hormones as a result of the autoimmune disease, which affects about 1% of Americans and is five times more common in women than in men. This effectively puts the body’s metabolism in a state of prolonged emergency. One endocrinologist described the symptoms as “hard to miss,” including heart palpitations, trembling, excessive sweating, difficulty sleeping, and unintentional weight loss despite increased appetite. However, Moriarty had been attributing them to exhaustion and stress for a while before receiving the diagnosis. She wrote, “If I hadn’t chalked it all up to stress and fatigue, I would’ve caught this sooner,” with a directness that read more like a sincere message to anyone who might be acting similarly to her.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Erin Elair Moriarty |
| Date of Birth | June 24, 1994 |
| Place of Birth | New York City, New York, USA |
| Age | 30 (as of 2025) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Known For | Annie January / Starlight in The Boys (Amazon Prime Video) |
| Other Notable Roles | True Detective (2014), Jessica Jones (2015), The Kings of Summer (2013) |
| Health Diagnosis | Graves’ disease (diagnosed May 2025, disclosed June 2025) |
| Graves’ Disease Type | Autoimmune hyperthyroidism |
| Symptoms Experienced | Extreme fatigue, inability to walk, racing heart, weight fluctuation |
| Social Media | Instagram: @erinelairmoriarty (2.5M+ followers) |
| Official Reference | Time Magazine – Erin Moriarty Has Graves’ Disease |
It is important to consider the physical weight gain debate that ensued after her public appearances in 2026. When left untreated or in the early stages of treatment, Graves’ disease usually results in significant weight loss because the overactive thyroid burns calories more quickly. The body frequently recalibrates after treatment starts and thyroid hormone levels stabilize; this process may appear externally as weight gain. In the dramatic pharmaceutical sense, it is not a side effect. It is more akin to a body going back to a more sustainable state. The online discourse had changed by March 2026, when Moriarty made an appearance at the 53rd Annual Saturn Awards in Los Angeles. Following her health disclosure, some fans described what they perceived to be a healthier version of the actress. Less kindly, others carried on without providing the background.
It’s difficult to ignore how the years-long criticism of Moriarty’s body and face followed a health issue that was actively affecting her. Fans noticed that Starlight appeared differently on screen between 2021 and 2023, both on Reddit and elsewhere. One question that went viral was, “Why does Starlight look different in Season 3?” In addition to being incorrect, the responses—plastic surgery, fillers, and an addiction to cosmetic procedures—were cruel in a way that has practically become the norm when entertainment audiences talk about actresses. It was always assumed that the modifications were intentional, purposeful, and pointless. She has since stated that by the time she received a formal diagnosis, she was barely able to walk because her immune system was actually attacking her own thyroid.
Barely walking is a detail that sits quietly in the middle of the Graves’ disease discussion and merits more attention than it usually gets. When things got really bad, Moriarty revealed on the Grave Conversations podcast that her mother had been visiting, walking to a nearby pharmacy to buy a thermometer because her daughter was too sick to go herself. A mother walking to a pharmacy, a daughter struggling to make the trip, and a body that had been speaking the truth for a long time before anyone in a position to assist was paying attention are all part of this particular domestic image. Meanwhile, the internet was working hard to discredit her.
The discussion surrounding Erin Moriarty’s weight gain, if it can be called that at all without some qualification, is essentially about the discrepancy between what people perceive to be a celebrity’s body and what is truly going on within it. Moriarty is not the first actress to do this. The pattern is sufficiently recognizable. When a woman looks different, rumors start to circulate, but the true explanation is usually more nuanced and compassionate than the conjecture could have predicted. The extent to which Moriarty has used her platform to genuinely advocate for paying attention rather than performing recovery for an audience may be less well-known. “Don’t ‘suck it up’ and transcend suffering,” she wrote. “You deserve to be comfy.”
Observing this development gives me the impression that the cultural discourse surrounding celebrity bodies is gradually—very slowly—acquiring a little more space for nuance. Moriarty’s revelation may have played a small, personal role in that, as open discussions about health occasionally do. According to all accounts, she is getting better, going back into the public eye, and getting ready for her next professional move. The organization that commenters had criticized for years was accomplishing something more important than anyone realized. It was attempting to communicate with her. She finally paid attention.
