The facepalm that was coverage of Renee Zellweger's face

Actress Renee Zellweger appeared at the Elle awards on Monday night looking slightly different. She may have been tired. She may even have just changed her eyebrows.

Whatever the circumstances, her appearance prompted a storm of media coverage, including more than 70,000 tweets and 69,000+ articles in Google News alone.

There were the questions, some more bluntly put than others...

Some which came just over a month after more positive coverage...

We're looking at you, Mail Online.

Newspaper front pages...

Comment pieces...

Slidey things...

Metaphors...

Listicles...

And just general losing-the-plot-ness

It seems no face was safe from scrutiny.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the media....

People often make sweeping judgements of others based on their facial features, research published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences shows. Researchers warned that “face-ism” can lead to rash decisions when voting, for example, or convicting someone of a crime. Notably, those with feminine-looking or naturally happy faces are consistently thought of as more trustworthy.

And what does the actress herself have to say about all this..?

It seems the folks who come digging around for some nefarious truth, which doesn't exist won't get off my porch until I answer the door. I'm glad folks think I look different! I'm living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I'm thrilled that perhaps it shows.

• Rene Zellweger to People magazine

More: A journey through the facepalm that was the Mail's reshuffle coverage