Cindy Crawford On Viral Photo: 'It Was Stolen and It Was Malicious'
Cindy Crawford looking flawless on the cover of Elle Canada’s September issue. (Photo: Max Abadian for Elle Canada)
Last winter, an unretouched photo of Cindy Crawford looking gorgeous, but not flawless, in lingerie went viral on social media. The image was leaked on Twitter from a 2013 Marie Claire Mexico cover story. At the time, Twitter was filled with people gushing about how inspiring it was to see the 49-year-old mother of two looking “real.” Crawford stayed quiet on the subject for months, but now she is finally speaking out to Elle Canada. “I felt blindsided,” Crawford told the magazine. “I was very conflicted, to be honest.”
In the interview, Crawford called out journalist Charlene White for initially posting the photo and not checking if the supermodel wanted it released or if it was authentic. As for its authenticity, Crawford is backing up photographer John Russo’s earlier claims that the photo was doctored. Crawford tells the magazine that Russo sent her the original telling her it was clear that the image had been altered to make her look worse. “It was stolen and it was malicious,” states Crawford. “Whether it was real or not isn’t relevant, although it’s relevant to me.”
The 49-year-old mother of two posing for Elle Canada. (Photo: Max Abadian for Elle Canada)
One of the problems for Crawford was how to deal with all of the positive online response. As to why women would be elated by seeing her supposed cellulite, Crawford was baffled. “Why would seeing a bad picture of me make other people feel good?” she asked. However, given that the photo wasn’t real, Crawford felt slightly trapped. “I don’t try to present myself as perfect. It put me in a tough spot: I couldn’t come out against it because I’m rejecting all these people who felt good about it, but I also didn’t embrace it because it wasn’t real — and even if it were real, I wouldn’t have wanted it out there. I felt really manipulated and conflicted, so I kept my mouth shut.”
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Why Cindy Crawford’s Unretouched Lingerie Photo is Causing Shockwaves
