Nicole Richie Denies Gastric Bypass Rumors

Nicole Richie is denying speculation that she underwent gastric bypass surgery and then had the operation reversed.

Rumors began spreading this week after the New York Post ran a blind item claiming a "Hollywood starlet" had gastric bypass surgery – and then, after losing too much weight, went in to have the gastric band removed.

The Simple Life star’s rep says that reports linking Richie to the blind item are "ridiculous."

"It is not Nicole," her publicist tells PEOPLE. "There are a ton of ‘Hollywood starlets.’"

Richie’s thinness has been the subject of much debate. She had dropped to around 90 lbs. – making her extremely thin, even at 5′2," PEOPLE reported recently. Last month she decided to undergo diagnostic treatment for her inability to put on weight.

Richie’s father, the singer Lionel Richie, urged his daughter to seek help. "She’s gonna be fine," he told PEOPLE recently. "She’s worrying me to death, but she’s gonna be okay."

Nicole Richie seeks help

Nicole Richie is taking a break from The Simple Life to seek help in her own life.

Nicole is to undergo diagnostic treatment to determine why she’s not been putting on any weight. She is working with a team of doctors and specialists whose focus is nutrition. This is not a treatment for an eating disorder.

Richie’s treatment means work on the new season of The Simple Life, which will find Richie and recently reconciled pal Paris Hilton as camp counselors, is temporarily on hold. In recent months Richie has addressed rampant tabloid speculation over her weight loss. Last spring, she told People that “stress” over her breakup with former fiance Adam Goldstein briefly affected her eating habits.

In June, she admitted to Vanity Fair that she was working on her body image. “I know I’m too thin right now, so I wouldn’t want any young girl looking at me and saying, ‘That’s what I want to look like’.