Tyra Banks is defending Kim Kardashian amidst allegations that her body was Photoshopped to look slimmer in their latest SKIMS photoshoot.
The Dancing With the Stars host together with Kardashian appeared on the Today show recently where they talked about their “empowering” photo shoot.
The 48-year-old supermodel said, “This is something I’ve been talking about for decades. So, me curvier, me damn near almost 50 years old in this campaign — I think it is pretty empowering.”
Banks made history in 1997 after being the first black woman to appear solo in the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. She also shared how the Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality star convinced her to join the campaign despite the fact that she has already resigned from modeling,
She revealed, “[Kim] said when I was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, she hadn’t seen boobs that were real and big.”
“She said that that gave her self-esteem for her body. So we had, like, a serious conversation, and I finally said, ‘Let’s do this!’”
Kardashian, 41, added, “We just had an honest heart-to-heart conversation, and she got to hear what the brand stands for, why I started the brand — and I’m just all about supporting women.”
SKIMS’ latest “Icons” campaign also stars Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, and Heidi Klum. The campaign received backlash from fans after it was launched. Many fans accused the company from Photoshopping the DWTS host’s curves.
A fan wrote on Twitter, “WHY did you edit and photoshop Tyra? She is naturally BEAUTIFUL,” while another one tweeted, “Tyra Banks looks way more beautiful without the edits in my opinion.”
Many fans slammed the company for allegedly editing the photos while at the same time promoting clothes that are inclusive to all shapes and sizes.
For instance, there were posts shared to Problematic Fame’s Instagram Stories that read, “Appalled to see the amount of photoshop done to Tyra Banks’ body in Kim Kardashian’s new Skims and campaign.”
“For a brand that prides themselves on body positivity and inclusivity, this is low. In what world does editing Tyra’s body into a clone of Kim’s endorse any sort of body positivity and inclusivity?”
