Tyra Banks Defends Kim Kardashian’s Skims Ad After Fans Claimed Her Body Was ‘Photoshopped’
Tyra Banks has opened up about her experience working with Kim Kardashian on her Skims shapewear line amid claims that the photos for the campaign were heavily Photoshopped.
Earlier this week, Kim took to her Instagram page, announcing she had teamed up with a string of supermodels, including Heidi Klum, Candice Swanepoel, Alessandra Ambrosio and the former America’s Next Top Model star for an “iconic” Skims swimwear photoshoot.
But fans were less than impressed after unedited photos from the campaign shoot had surfaced online, showing a stark contrast from the retouched pics which Kim promoted to her millions of social media followers.
On Friday, the 48-year-old Dancing With the Stars host joined Kim for a joint interview on TODAY With Hoda and Jenna to discuss all things concerning their recent partnership, as Tyra revealed why she didn’t even hesitate to accept the offer, saying she was glad to finally get to represent curvier women.
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“This is something I’ve been talking about for decades,” she shared. “So, me curvier, me damn near almost 50 years old in this campaign — I think it is pretty empowering.
According to Tyra, it was Kim who personally requested the former Victoria’s Secret Angel to front her Skims line after the pair engaged in a lengthy conversation about uplifting women of all sizes.
Prior to signing on the dotted line, Tyra also recalled having a conversation with Kim about her famous 1997 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which the latter said gave her confidence as a teen to embrace her bigger breasts at a time when it was uncommon to see models with a fuller chest gracing magazine covers.
The Inglewood native, who became one of the world’s highest-paid models by the early ‘00s, believed that having a candid chat with Kim about Skims helped her to “step into my own, I guess, power and influence as an icon in the modeling industry” in a bid to help redefine body standards in today’s society.
WHY did you edit and photoshop Tyra? She is naturally BEAUTIFUL pic.twitter.com/ZallZccHTa
— Beessch (@BeesschIam) April 6, 2022
Despite their uplifting words about one another in the interview, neither Tyra nor Kim took the time to address criticism from fans who felt that the final shots used to promote the swimwear collection had been edited beyond belief — particularly when compared to the shots that hadn’t been altered.
“Tyra seems to be a victim of extreme photoshop in this one – where did her body go?” one concerned fan wrote on Twitter.
Another chimed in on the hot topic, tweeting, “Appalled to see the amount of photoshop done to Tyra Banks’ body in Kim Kardashian ’s new SKIMS campaign.”
The Kardashians premieres on Hulu April 14.