Celebrities Who Have Refused To Be Photoshopped

Back in 2014, Keira Knightley had had enough of being Photoshopped everywhere from “paparazzi” photos to “film posters.” She decided she wasn’t going to let it happen any longer, and when she later did a shoot for Interview magazine, she told them not to edit the photos. 

“That [shoot] was one of the ones where I said: ‘OK, I’m fine doing the topless shot so long as you don’t make them any bigger or retouch.’ Because it does feel important to say it really doesn’t matter what shape you are…I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame. Our society is so photographic now, it becomes more difficult to see all of those different varieties of shape,” Keira told The Times.

Lili Reinhard and her Riverdale costar, Camila Mendes, have long been body positivity advocates. So when they discovered they had been heavily Photoshopped as the cover stars of Cosmopolitan’s Philippines edition, they were “shocked.” Both Lili and Camila spoke out, condemning the magazine’s choice and explaining why they don’t use Photoshop. 

“That they would then manipulate our bodies when we are literally preaching body positivity is so personally insulting, and it’s also insulting to the readers. And I’m so happy with the way that I am and I don’t think that was necessary. It’s never necessary to change your body. People know what I look like, I take photos on my own and I don’t edit them so people know. Stop trying to lie to people, you know?” Camila said in an interview with People. 

While Kate Winslet was working on Mare of Easttown, she set strict rules about Photoshopping her body. Since she was playing a middle-aged woman in the series, she said she wanted to look that way on screen and in promotional materials. She even rejected the show’s posters twice because she thought they were too edited. On another occasion, she turned down the show’s director when he wanted to touch up a “bulgy bit of belly” during a sex scene. 

“I guess that’s why people have connected with this character in the way that they have done because there are clearly no filters…She’s a fully functioning, flawed woman with a body and a face that moves in a way that is synonymous with her age and her life, and where she comes from. I think we’re starved of that a bit…What worries me is that faces are beautiful. Faces that change, that move, are beautiful faces, but we’ve stopped learning how to love those faces because we keep covering them up with filters now,” Kate told The New York Times.

Bella Thorne took a stand against Photoshop when she posed for GQ back in 2017 and asked the magazine not to retouch the image. She later explained that she made the decision because she wanted her fans to know she’s not perfect and they’re not alone in having insecurities. 

“I have insecurities, about pretty much everything. That’s natural & that’s human. You might look at this photo and think oh shush Bella, but just know every time someone looks in the mirror they simply don’t see what everyone else sees. Know that it’s completely normal to feel insecure and it’s accepted. Honestly, I wish everyone talked more about their insecurities so more people in the world could know they aren’t alone. That it’s ok,” Bella wrote.

Meghan Trainor has always been about body positivity, so when she discovered that her body in her “Me Too” video had been digitally altered, she demanded that it be taken off the internet. Meghan says she was insulted by the edit and only allowed the video to be reuploaded when the retouching had been removed. 

“I went to the video and was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I texted the editors like, ‘I never asked you to touch my waist. I want my waist back.’ Why would they ever be like, ‘Let’s break her ribs!’ It’s insulting, it’s rude. Especially because I’m the only artist who talks about it,” Meghan told USA Today.

Meghan Markle has faced a lot of negativity in the media over the past few years, but she says one of her main pet peeves is when pictures of her are Photoshopped. She once explained that one of the most common changes editors make is to her skin tone and freckles — and she doesn’t put up with it anymore.

“To this day, my pet peeve is when my skin tone is changed and my freckles are airbrushed out of a photoshoot. For all my freckle-faced friends out there, I will share with you something my dad told me when I was younger: ‘A face without freckles is a night without stars,’ ” Meghan told Today.

Busy Philipps isn’t a fan of Photoshop and wants to make sure her fans know that she’s not taking part in any photo or video manipulation. When she was on the cover of Health magazine in 2018, some fans assumed that her moles had been edited off of her face. Busy took to Instagram to clear things up — and let fans know she actually stopped the team from retouching the snap.

“They didn’t [Photoshop them out] and actually that was discussed. The light was super bright which is why they look less dark, but they did NOT airbrush off my moles. Promise you. I can show you the pics from the monitor at the shoot — it’s truly just the bright light making them a little lighter,” Busy wrote in the comment section. 

When Jameela Jamil was on the cover of Virgin Airlines’ in-house magazine, Vera, she asked the outlet not to edit any of her photos and they agreed — which was a big deal for Jameela, who says she hates Photoshop.

“Did a fun cover shoot with @virginatlantic for their magazine…They also agreed to not airbrush me in any way, which I really appreciated as I find Photoshop to be one of the worst things to happen to women,” Jameela penned.

Demi Lovato got so fed up with their body constantly being edited by other people that they decided it was time to do a totally unretouched photoshoot. In their effort to fight back, the singer posed for Vanity Fair completely nude and makeup free. 

“A lot of times I get frustrated because people will, without my consent, Photoshop my body and it doesn’t look like my own body. Like, no no no, my thighs are bigger than that, can you put them back to the way they were? I’ve literally done that before where I’m like, ‘No, put my legs back on me. Those aren’t my legs,'” Demi explained to E! News.

As the cover star of Elle India, Padma Lakshmi requested that her photos not be retouched — particularly her nipples that could be seen through her dress. She later took to Instagram to speak out about the unedited photos. 

“This one I love….and yup those are my nipples. So what? We have all become so afraid of what a woman’s natural body actually looks like these days. Thank you @elleindiaofficial for not airbrushing them out! They used to be a bit higher but you know #littlehands, that thirsty little bugger!!!” Padma wrote on Instagram.

In 2013, Lady Gaga was featured on the cover of Glamour but she didn’t appreciate how Photoshopped she appeared on the mag. Just weeks after the magazine hit shelves, Gaga spoke out about the dangers of retouching at Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards and urged readers to “fight back against the forces that make them feel like they’re not beautiful.”

“I felt my skin looked too perfect. I felt my hair looked too soft. I do not look like this when I wake up in the morning,” Gaga said on stage, then addressing the magazine’s staff by saying, “It is fair to write about the change in your magazines. But what I want to see is the change on your covers…When the covers change, that’s when culture changes.”

Lupita Nyong’o took a stance against Photoshop when she noticed something strange about her appearance on her cover of Grazia UK. Instead of having her hair in a bun, the magazine had actually Photoshopped her natural hair so that it appeared more smooth. On Instagram, she expressed her disappointment in the magazine for editing the photo to “fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like.”

“As I have made clear so often in the past with every fiber of my being, I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful, too. Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfills me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are…Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women’s complexion, hair style and texture,” Lupita wrote on Instagram. 

The magazine later issued an apology.

When Kerry Washington was asked to be on the cover of AdWeek magazine, she said it was an “honor and a privilege” — but she wasn’t happy with how she looked in the end. On Instagram, Kerry called out the magazine for Photoshopping her image to the point where she was unrecognizable to some. 

“I  have to be honest…I was taken aback by the cover. Look, I’m no stranger to Photoshopping. It happens a lot. In a way, we have become a society of picture adjusters — who doesn’t love a filter?!? And I don’t always take these adjustments to task but I have had the opportunity to address the impact of my altered image in the past and I think it’s a valuable conversation. Yesterday, however, I just felt weary. It felt strange to look at a picture of myself that is so different from what I look like when I look in the mirror. It’s an unfortunate feeling,” Kerry shared. 

In 2017, Emily Ratajkowski was featured on the cover of French magazine, Madame Figaro, but when she saw the final product, she immediately noticed that her lips and breasts had been Photoshopped. She didn’t hesitate to take to Instagram to call out the mag, sharing that she was disappointed they chose to edit her photos. 

“Everyone is uniquely beautiful in their own ways. We all have insecurities about the things that make us different from a typical ideal of beauty. I, like so many of us, try every day to work past those insecurities. I was extremely disappointed to see my lips and breasts altered in Photoshop on this cover. I hope the fashion industry will finally learn to stop trying to stifle the things that make us unique and instead begin to celebrate individuality,” Emily wrote in a now-deleted post.