Is it a wig or are you just jealous? From Odessa A'zion to Sabrina Carpenter, wig-gate is the hair game of the moment

Let’s start from the beginning, from the exact moment the Internet completely lost its mind. Or rather, its hair. Long, dark, wild enough to look spontaneous, yet controlled enough to seem suspicious. Odessa A’zion’s curls aren’t just beautiful. They’re incriminating. So perfect they feel like a personal provocation. And this is where the collective short circuit kicks in: are they real or is it a wig? A simple question, theoretically irrelevant. And yet, no. The question ricochets everywhere, from TikTok comments to hairstylists’ DMs, generating an endless spiral of videos, comments, comparisons between red carpets, premieres, and paparazzi shots. And while Odessa jokes about it, downplays it, admitting that sometimes yes, sometimes no, the audience has already moved on. It doesn’t want answers, it wants to participate. Because in 2026 the real global sport isn’t reformer pilates, but wig-gate.

Welcome to CSI Celebrity, where everyone is a detective, celebrity's hair version

We have officially entered the era of permanent aesthetic surveillance. Every public appearance by a celebrity is a crime scene, every photo a frame to be analyzed in slow motion. Alongside accusations of cosmetic surgery, veneer shaming, suspicious weight loss, and glow-ups, the new collective hobby is dismantling celebrities’ hair. TikTok has officially launched the CSI: Hair Edition, where users with no qualifications whatsoever (other than a phone and a lot of free time) analyze lace fronts, baby hairs, invisible knots, suspicious density, and movements that are “too fluid to be real.” First it was Sabrina Carpenter, with her curtain bangs so perfect they looked 3D-printed. Then the contagion turned into an epidemic. But it’s with Odessa A’zion that wig-gate leveled up, because her curls aren’t disciplined, but they aren’t anarchic either. They don’t scream “salon,” but they don’t say “just woke up” either. They live in that gray area that sends the public into meltdown. Too beautiful to be real, too natural to be fake. And the Internet, as we know, always mistrusts anything that works a little too well.

Shock news: celebrities wear wigs

Let’s say it plainly: celebrities wear wigs. Always have. From Dolly Parton to Nicole Kidman, from Naomi Campbell, who has long used them to protect hair battered by decades of extreme styling and coloring, to the entire Kardashian-Jenner clan, wigs have been an integral part of the star system for decades. Dolly says it outright: wig equals zero bad hair days. And zero hours wasted under the blow dryer. Then there are wigs worn quite literally by contract, work tools, like microphones or ironclad NDAs. Think of the cast of Stranger Things, trapped for years in a temporal bubble made of recognizable characters, iconic looks, and mandatory visual continuity. Wigs are pure pragmatism. Because without them, between red carpets, sets, promo tours, shoots, rehearsals, lights, dyes, and nonstop styling, natural hair, relentlessly abused, would last about as long as a relationship born on Instagram. They protect, ensure visual consistency, allow for look changes without consequences, and make it possible to be flawless without destroying your scalp. Basically, they’re the smartest beauty accessory that exists.

Changing everything without paying the price (and without pretending

For centuries, wearing a wig (think Marie Antoniette) was synonymous with disguise, necessity, or social status. Over time, even though stubborn cultural double standards remain, it stopped being an embarrassing secret and became a tool of self-expression and empowerment, offering the freedom to reinvent yourself every day. One day a pixie cut, the next XL lengths, the day after Hollywood waves. Celebrities like Lady Gaga know this well, having made wigs a core part of her visual vocabulary; like Jennifer Lopez, who switches from goddess-like lengths to sleek buns, from blonde strands to dark shades in the blink of an eye; or like Zendaya, who integrates wigs into her outfits to move from a 1920s icon to a sci-fi character on and off set. Not to mention FKA twigs, who uses hair as sculpture, as performance, effortlessly shifting from mini braids to a buzz cut, from hair-phones to true trichological architectures. The same goes for Julia Fox, who turns wigs and hair sculptures into narrative masks, oscillating between glamour, excess, and camp. And those long, copper curls worn by Chappell Roan in the The Subway music video? Thanks to celebrities, the wig is positioning itself as the ultimate accessory to pair with an outfit. It follows the mood, comes off at the end of the night, and leaves no emotional baggage or structural damage. After all, what’s the point of destroying your natural hair when you can simply wear different hair? Of course, all this comes at a cost. There’s no way around it: a top-quality wig can cost as much as a luxury car. Ask Beyoncé, who already in 2008 owned a collection valued at over one million dollars and has since taken the concept to imperial levels, with tour pieces that comfortably exceed six figures.

Odessa A’zion, Sabrina Carpenter and the paradox of hair that’s too perfect

Let’s go back to Odessa, because everything always circles back to her. The funniest thing about her case? She’s admitted everything and its opposite. In Los Angeles, at the premiere of Marty Supreme, she was wearing a wig. In New York, she showed up on the red carpet with her real hair, after five hours of styling. The result? Identical. And that’s what sends the Internet into a tailspin. Because the problem isn’t whether Odessa’s curls are real or fake. The problem is that we can no longer tell. And when reality reaches the perfection of artifice, we stop believing in it. If Odessa is ambiguity, Sabrina Carpenter is total control. Her blonde hair with curtain bangs is always the same, like a logo. In contemporary pop, hair is branding. It’s a distinctive mark, a promise of consistency. In the end, whether it’s a wig or the result of maniacal styling is almost beside the point.

The real point of wig-gate

The wig and extensions market is booming and, according to estimates, will surpass $4 billion by 2032, a sign that the desire to experiment, dare, and transform has never been stronger. In makeup as in hair. Considering these numbers and the buzz around celebrity manes, what’s the answer to our original question: “Is it a wig, or are you just jealous?”. The most honest answer is probably both. Because in the world we live in, hair is no longer a matter of biological truth, but of storytelling. And if we spend hours debating it, it simply means the look worked. After all, being accused of wearing a wig is the new certificate of coolness. And Odessa A’zion’s curls, real or not, have already won. Without even having to explain how.