Keira Knightley Says She Suffered 'Classic Trauma' From Eating Disorder Rumors

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star was still a teenager when she was bombarded by tabloid speculation that she had anorexia.

Keira Knightley says she’s still deeply affected by the tabloid rumors surrounding her body.

The Oscar-nominated actor was only 17 years old when her breakout role in “Bend It Like Beckham” (2002) led to a star-making turn in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, and is now candidly recalling how the resulting media attention affected her mental health.

In an interview published Saturday about past reports that she suffered from an eating disorder, Knightley, now 39, told The Times, “I knew I wasn’t, I knew I was eating.”

“In that classic trauma way I don’t remember it,” she added about that period of her life. “There’s been a complete delete, and then some things will come up and I’ll suddenly have a very bodily memory of it because, ultimately, it’s public shaming, isn’t it?”

Knightley won a libel suit against The Daily Mail in 2007 after the paper suggested her thinness had contributed to the death of a 19-year-old who had anorexia.