The Biggest Photoshop Controversies

We look back on the most recent retouching scandals and the women who spoke out.

By Laura Cohen

Jul 14, 2014

1. Colbie Caillat recently took a stand against Photoshop in her new music video, "Try." She and several other women go from all-made-up to completely natural to make their point clear.

2. Mariah Carey is at the center of the latest scandal—Jezebel released the pre-Photoshop images from her cover shoot with Terry Richardson shot for Wonderland magazine.

3. Vanessa Hudgens is also fighting back against the Photoshop trend. In her new ad campaign for Bongo's Fall 2014 collection, she appears exactly as she did on set without any alteration, totally "unretouched and unfiltered."

4. Lena Dunham had a similar experience as Carey earlier this year. Jezebel offered $10,000 for pre-Photoshop images from a Dunham photoshoot, and within two hours, they got them. The controversy, however, went on to inspire a campaign promoting positive change for women.

5. Troian Bellisario sounded off on Instagram after a photoshoot of her and her fellow Pretty Little Liars stars received serious Photoshopping. She wanted to acknowledge the editing so her fans know it's not reality. "This industry seems to invest more in perfection than in flaw," Bellisario said. "But flaw and individuality, to me, are what make a human being interesting, they make our stories worth telling."

View this post on Instagram

So by now you have seen many a shot from #GQ and many people have said that we were photoshopped... OF COURSE WE WERE! that's a very specific type of photo shoot. And looking very blown out and perfected was obviously what they were looking for. Great. Cool. As long as we acknowledge how it was achieved so we know it's not real. Here's some behind the scenes of my body the way it is and was on the day. I'm not mad at how these pictures turned out, the girls and I had an absolute blast. More fun than we've had on a photoshoot in a while, and I think you can see that in our eyes and smiles. But it's the same everywhere. It's the same way on the posters of our show and even in women's magazines. This industry seems to invest more in perfection than in flaw. But flaw and individuality, to me, are what make a human being interesting, they make our stories worth telling. (Unfortunately the flaws don't usually sell products or magazines) I'm proud of my body and the way it looks because @themarkwildman kicks my butt in aerial. But my hips and thighs are a part of me (even though they magically weren't in some shots!) I get those things from my momma. And I'm happy To shake what my momma gave me.

A post shared by Troian Bellisario (@sleepinthegardn) on May 21, 2014 at 10:35am PDT

6. Nicki Minaj also took to Instagram to call out ESPN Magazine for retouching her cover with NBA star Kobe Bryant, making the caption "When retouching goes wrong." She also said, "I love my personal unretouched photos where my forehead doesn't mysteriously grow in length."

View this post on Instagram

When retouching goes wrong

A post shared by Barbie (@nickiminaj) on Jan 23, 2014 at 1:49pm PST

7. Esther Honig, a 24-year-old radio journalist in Missouri, made major news with her self-portrait project in which she had people in 27 countries Photoshop her face according to their beauty standards. The results proved how beauty ideals affect women all over the world.