12482: Washington Scandal…?

From USA TODAY…

Kerry Washington ‘InStyle’ cover raises eyebrows

By Maria Puente, USA TODAY

Does Kerry Washington’s latest magazine cover, on InStyle’s March issue, make her look too light?

Once again, social media lit up Thursday with another controversy over the intersection of beauty, race and Photoshopping in the media, with Scandal star Washington as the latest case-in-point.

The new cover has her brightly lit in a white, shoulder-baring dress, hands on hips, her hair fan-swept in that new artfully disheveled long-bob style.

Does her skin tone look lighter than she really is? Maybe it depends on your perspective.

Not that she was perturbed. She was “THRILLED” with the photo, she said on Instagram. “So honored. And crazy excited,” she added.

But some of her fans were not.

“I get that you’re happy to be on the cover of @InStyleMagazine ... but WHO IN THE HECK is on this cover? #Scandal #Photoshop#BadPhotoshop,” posted isthatkeyon under the photo.

“dang. why’d they do that? you don’t need photoshop,” added tamhasty.

InStyle was quick to respond with a statement denying that Washington’s skin was deliberately lightened.

“While we did not digitally lighten Kerry’s skin tone, our cover lighting has likely contributed to this concern. We understand that this has resulted in disappointment and hurt. We are listening, and the feedback has been valuable. We are committed to ensuring that this experience has a positive influence on the ways in which we present all women going forward,” the magazine said, according to the Associated Press.

Washington approved and tweeted her thanks:

These cover contretemps are not new, not even for Washington. Lucky magazine was accused of manipulating Washington’s image for a December/January cover in 2013 that some fans also declared unrecognizable.

11411: Beyoncé Talks True About Skin.

Anybody else think it’s odd that L’Oréal would run this True Match™ commercial starring Beyoncé talking about her “mosaic” skin—after the cosmetics company was accused of lightening the star’s features?

11344: PortraitPro Has Blemishes.

It’s a safe bet Portrait Pro is not a fan of the Dove Real Beauty campaign. On the flipside, the before-and-after imagery for its latest Version 11 is pretty pathetic. Were the blemishes added to make the performance points?

11172: Beyoncé’s Bona Fide Booty.

From The New York Daily News…

Beyoncé upset to learn H&M had trimmed her curves for summer collection campaign: report

The bootylicious ‘Mrs. Carter Show World Tour’ diva wanted her full figure un-Photoshopped, say sources.

By Rachel Maresca / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Beyoncé’s body is Bootylicious, and she wants to keep it that way.

The 31-year-old singer, who is the stunning face of H&M’s summer collection reportedly was not happy to find out they had retouched the original shots and were planning to use them.

Queen Bey insisted that only the non-altered pictures be published for the campaign.

“When Beyoncé found out they had edited the way her body really looked, she hit the roof,” an insider revealed to The Sun newspaper.

“She’s a true diva and was furious that she had been given such a snubbing. Her people refused to give the pictures the green light so H&M were forced to use the originals.”

A spokesman for H&M admitted there were “discussions” about the ads but the photos that have been publicly released are of Beyoncé’s real bod.

“As with all campaigns there are discussions on which images should be used. Both H&M and Beyoncé are very happy with the final result,” he added.

Beyoncé, who has recently been performing in Europe for the “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” is set to headline this Saturday at London’s Twickenham stadium for the “Sound of Change” concert, which will be raising funds for worldwide projects that support women and girls.

Other notable artists set to take the stage are Madonna, Florence + the Machine, Jennifer Lopez, Ellie Goulding, Haim, John Legend and Timbaland.

10997: BHM 2013—Regions.

Regions wins for Most Awkward Photoshop® Image of the Month.

10412: Uncovering The Obvious.

Jezebel revealed photographs of Victoria’s Secret models undergo Photoshop® enhancements. Gasp! Thank God such investigative journalism is here to expose the shocking truth.

9715: Big, Fat Liars.

From The New York Times…

Blame Photoshop, Not Diabetes, for This Amputation

By Patrick McGeehan

New York City’s health watchdogs warn that drinking too much sugary soda could cost you a leg. But you also might lose a limb if you appear in one of their ads.

A blunt new poster from the Bloomberg administration shows an overweight man on a stool, his right leg missing below the knee. A pair of crutches leans against a wall beside him. The advertisement, being placed throughout the subway system, warns that ever-growing portions of fast food and sodas could cause diabetes, which could lead to amputations.

But it turns out that the person shown in the advertisement did not need crutches because his legs were intact. The health department confirmed on Tuesday that its advertising agency had removed the lower half of the man’s leg from the picture to make its point: the headline over the image reads “Portions have grown. So has Type 2 diabetes, which can lead to amputations.”

When city officials announced the campaign on Jan. 9, they did not let on that the man shown — whose photo came from a company that supplies stock images to advertising firms and others — was not an amputee and may not have had diabetes. The city did not identify the man, and efforts to reach the agency that supplied the photo were unsuccessful. The photographer who took the picture, Morten Smidt, said he did not know the man’s name.

Mr. Smidt said on Tuesday that he had not seen the advertisement. In response to a description of it, he said, “Well, it is an illustration now, clearly not the picture I did.”

In a news release about the campaign, the health department said that in 2006, nearly 3,000 New Yorkers with diabetes were hospitalized for amputations. The advertisements are the latest in a series of attention-grabbing messages about the dangers of smoking, drinking and consuming too many sweets and fatty foods. Other advertisements that the health department sponsored featured a grizzled smoker who talked through a voice box and a woman named “Marie” from the Bronx who showed off what appeared to be fingers whose tips had been lost to smoking.

City officials said those advertisements were testimonials that showed real people and real consequences. But they said that doing so was not always feasible. “Sometimes we use individuals who are suffering from the particular disease; other times we have to use actors,” said John Kelly, a health department spokesman. “We might stop using actors in our ads if the food industry stops using actors in theirs.”

The American Beverage Association, which opposes the city’s efforts against sodas and fast food, called the advertisement overwrought. “This is another example of the ‘What can we get away with?’ approach that shapes these taxpayer-funded ad campaigns,” Chris Gindlesperger, the association’s director of communications, said in a statement.

Bob Garfield, a commentator for Advertising Age and National Public Radio, said that the misrepresentation “was lazy or cheap or silly, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.” Still, he said, “Why people lie when there’s no penalty for telling the truth is an absolute mystery to me.”

9691: Beyoncé Not Black Enough…?

From The New York Daily News…

Beyonce taking heat for new pale-skinned photo promoting latest album

Milky complexion could simply be the result of bright lighting and not Photoshop flourishes

By Michael J. Feeney and Nancy Dillon / New York Daily News

White-hot superstar Beyoncé Knowles is taking fresh heat for a new pale-skinned photo promoting her last album.

The new mom, who weathered similar accusations of photo snow jobs in 2008 and 2011, is shown lying on a leopard print couch in a slinky black monokini, with straight blond hair, bleached eyebrows and nearly alabaster skin.

The milky complexion could simply be the result of extremely bright lighting and not Photoshop flourishes, critics conceded. But either way, some believe any amount of whitewashing sends a damaging message — and the star should know better by now.

"It’s like, Again? Are we here again? I think in a lot of ways shes culpable because there’s history there," said Lincoln Anthony Blades, founder of the popular race-conscious blog ThisIsYourConscience.com.

"She's not saying explicitly you have to lighten your skin, but it does carry that inherent message," he said.

It was summer 2008 when beauty behemoth L’Oreal denied accusations it digitally lightened Beyoncés honey-colored skin in an ad for hair dye. Last year, she faced criticism for the blond, unusually light-skinned photos accompanying her fourth solo album, simply titled “4.”

Ugandan-born British writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown blasted Beyoncé for turning her back on her African-American roots.

"I despair for the youngsters who see those images," she wrote in London's Daily Mail.

Filmmaker D. Channsin Berry, whose documentary “Dark Girls” looks at issues facing black women with darker skin than their peers, told The News Beyoncé is “doing what she needs to do to be accepted worldwide and keep those sponsors happy.”

“I wish she had people around her telling her that God doesn’t make mistakes, that you are beautiful the way you are,” Berry said. “What does something like this do for a young girl who’s so impressionable and … says ‘Mommy, I want my skin to look like Beyoncé’s,’ that’s dangerous.”

Blades agreed and said he’s concerned about the rise in popularity of skin-bleaching creams.

In Harlem, Rochelle Mosley, the owner of Salon 804, said the singer is being given a hard time.

“That has been around since the beginning of time. Lighter has always gotten over,” said Mosley, a dark-skin woman. “I don’t think she’s trying to be a white woman. I think she’s trying to be herself.”

But stylist Ayanna Lockett, who also works at the same salon, disagreed:

“It bothers me,” she said, looking at the photo. “I think she went a little too far.”

Beyoncé’s publicist did not respond to a request for comment.

9588: H&M Strikes Culturally Clueless Pose.

Retailer H&M managed to display cultural cluelessness with the admission that models’ heads were combined with mannequin bodies—and the fake figures were even colored to match the models’ skin tones. Commentary ensued at sources including Jezebel, Sociological Images and The Guardian; additionally, press coverage included ABC and FOX. While some might argue the multicultural images at least display diversity, the identical bodies—as well as the long hair—are clearly embracing Eurocentric beauty standards.

9246: Kardashian Kartoons.

The Photoshop® retouching expert worked on this image longer and harder the photographer.

9231: Clearer Skin In Five Minutes.

Who needs Botox or cosmetic surgery when there’s Photoshop® services?

8850: Estee Lauder A Liar…?

From The New York Daily News…

Model Caroline Forsling sues Estee Lauder for $2 million over ‘manipulated’ photo in ad

By Melissa Grace, Daily News Staff Writer

A former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model has slapped Estee Lauder with a $2 million lawsuit claiming the cosmetics behemoth used a “manipulated” image of her in an anti-aging ad campaign.

Caroline Forsling, a Swedish model who lives in New York, is demanding that the company be ordered to stop using a test shot of her face that she agreed to for a hair care product shoot earlier this year — and nothing else.

Months later, Forsling saw a photo from the shoot with her hair pulled back and before her makeup was applied in an ad for the skin care product Plantscription.

The picture was split in two, with the left side of the blue-eyed beauty’s face labeled “before” and the right labeled “after” in a supposed “dramatization” of the effects of a clinical test of cream.

Adding insult to injury, the advertising materials — which were plastered on the Estee Lauder-owned Origins line website and on in-store displays — stated that the test subjects of the study were women aged 45-60, the lawsuit charges.

“Forsling has never used Plantscription. She did not participate in Defendants’ study - indeed, she would not have been eligible to participate because she is significantly younger than 45,” the suit claims — without indicating her age.

“Upon information and belief, the image was modified through the use of photo editing software though it remained recognizable as an image of Forsling,” her lawyer, Edward Rosenthal, wrote in the legal papers filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

The ex-catwalk crawler’s birthday is unknown but her online bio says she appeared in the 1998 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and graced the cover of German “Marie Clair” in January 1999.

Her lawyer did not return calls for comment.

Forsling said that despite agreeing to stop using the photo, Estee Lauder and Origins sent it to modeling agencies as “casting call materials” as they sought models with “fine wrinkles.”

The suit claims Forsling’s civil rights were violated and the company enriched itself at her expense and damaged her career.

Officials at Estee Lauder and Origins had no comment on the pending litigation.

8805: The Son Of Schwarzenegger.

The Arnold Schwarzenegger scandal has folks madly searching for photos of the love child. The media has been blurring images to protect the boy’s identity, which likely fuels everyone’s curiosity. As a public service, MultiCultClassics presents Photoshop® artist renderings.

8669: Financially Unfit.

The person responsible for this ad should have been sent to a Photoshop® class.

8534: Sofia Vergara’s Cans & Jugs.

People of color are often at the center of Photoshop® and photographic controversy. They are apparently deliberately lightened, lessened and eliminated on a regular basis. Now Pepsi is taking heat for messing with the already-allegedly-surgically-enhanced breasts of Sofia Vergara. To balance the booby boo-boo, MultiCultClassics proudly presents a titillating retrospective of the voluptuous Vergara.

7979: What The Elle.

Check out the side-by-Sidibe here. Elle magazine is taking heat for its series of 25th anniversary covers—particularly the one featuring actress Gabourey Sidibe. First, critics are crying Sidibe’s skin has been digitally lightened. Next, the other subjects in the series were shot to display their full figures, while Sidibe was depicted in close-up fashion. Finally, readers believe Sidibe has an unflattering hairstyle. Elle said, “Nothing out of the ordinary was done. We have four separate covers this month and Gabby’s cover was not retouched any more or less than the others… If you take a look at the portfolio, each of the women were shot in different ways and for different reasons.” Hey, there’s nothing precious about this picture.

7366: 99.9% Lazy Photoshop® Example.

Was 99.9% sure this ad displayed really clumsy Photoshop® compositing, as the kid’s angle doesn’t appear to work with the floor. Went to Getty Images and received 100% confirmation.

5783: Light News Day.

MultiCultClassics Monologue Lite.

• L’Oréal sparked controversy by apparently lightening Beyoncé for an advertisement. Not sure why they’d hire Beyoncé but want her to look like other L’Oréal spokesperson Heather Locklear.