Jessica Simpson's 2010 'Lucky' Magazine Cover About Body Image Shows Why Photoshop Is Failing Us All
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Over the years, Jessica Simpson has been unfairly body-shamed for being underweight and overweight by the press, and now, a former editor-in-chief is speaking out about the cover she approved in 2010 for Lucky magazine. Kim France opened up about the cover that declared, “Jessica Simpson on finally loving her body” while choosing to Photoshop the singer’s physique.
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France wrote in a blog post that it’s a moment in her career that she’s “not especially proud of.” (See the photo HERE.) Getting Simpson for the feature was “a big deal” since “Lucky was pretty far down in the celebrity-cover hierarchy.” However, the editors weren’t thrilled at the size of her body at the time — and it’s painful to even read France’s words. “When the cover film came in, we could see that she was about a size 14 — which is considered normal by many rational standards, but not by glossy magazine standards, not in 2010, and not by a long shot,” she wrote. “I’d like to be able to tell you that I fearlessly insisted we put her on the cover anyway, looking the way she actually looked. I did not.”
The former editor-in-chief admitted that they made Simpson “skinnier — much skinnier than she actually was,” and fans took notice. France believes it’s one of the reasons she lost her job only weeks later and she’s reassessing what she could have done differently from a 2023 perspective. However, the answer might disappoint you. “What might I have done differently back in 2010? From a professional perspective? Only one thing, frankly, and that would have been, and I hate to say it, to not book somebody that size in the first place,” she continued. “Once we had shot a size-14 woman for the cover, that cover wouldn’t have made it out the door and past the bosses unless she was slimmed down. And so I did that, to an insulting degree. Jessica Simpson herself was said to have hated the cover, and who could possibly have blamed her?”
‘Open Book’ by Jessica Simpson
Click here to read the full article.
The media landscape was so intolerant of someone not fitting into a perceived ideal that it would have been easier for Lucky magazine to keep her off the cover. But once Simpson’s photo was retouched, the backlash began, and rightfully so — she was beautiful no matter what clothing size she wore. The narrative has improved in the fashion industry, but airbrushing, retouching, filters, and Photoshop are still in heavy rotation (just look at Instagram). While we say we are embracing our curves, it sometimes feels like we’ve made little progress in loving ourselves just the way we are.
Before you go, click here for more celebrities who’ve spoken out about being body-shamed.
Launch Gallery: Demi Lovato Gets Real About How Hollywood's Beauty Ideals Fueled Her Eating Disorder: 'You Start to Pick Yourself Apart'
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