From Priyanka Chopra to Chrissy Teigen , many stars have slammed society's unrealistic beauty standards and the prevalence of digitally altered photos on social media.
INSIDER rounded up 18 times celebrities have criticized heavily edited photos of themselves. Check out their inspiring, refreshing, and body-positive responses below.
Editor's note: This post contains an image with nudity that may be considered not safe for work.
In February 2019, Marina Diamandis criticized a designer who she said edited her legs and thighs to "look like literal sticks."
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In two Twitter posts, Diamandis said she wore clothes by the designer, who she did not name, to a recent awards show.
Diamandis said the alleged photo-editing incident was "internalized misogyny in full action."
"It feels super irresponsible & unkind to distort a woman's figure for what is essentially someone else's vanity," she wrote in one post.
"I didn't feel hurt by this," the singer added. "It was about [the designer], not me. But 10 years ago I would have been. I probably would've reposted the [edited] picture."
In March 2018, "Riverdale" star Lili Reinhart accused Cosmopolitan Philippines of editing photos of her and her costar, Camila Mendes.
In a series of posts on her Instagram story , Reinhart claimed that the magazine edited her and Mendes' waists to appear slimmer. Reinhart, who was featured within the pages of Cosmopolitan Philippines' March 2018 issue, included a photo of her body from Cosmopolitan US' February issue which she said was not digitally altered to make her point.
"Camila and I worked incredibly hard to feel confident in the bodies we have," Reinhart wrote in her story. "It's an everyday battle, sometimes. And to see our bodies become so distorted in an editing process is a perfect example of the obstacles we have yet to overcome."
Mendes, who appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan Philippines' March 2018 issue, later commented on the incident in her own Instagram story. "We want readers to know that those bodies are not ours," the actress wrote. She continued: "They have been distorted from their natural beauty. [...] I'm not interested in having a slimmer waist, I'm more than satisfied with the one that I already have."
Later that month, Reinhart opened up about her reaction to seeing the edited pictures of herself.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
In an interview with Elite Daily , Reinhart talked candidly about the ways in which society's unrealistic beauty standards affect women's relationships with their own bodies.
The actress said that the incident withCosmopolitan Philippines "showed [her] a dystopian idea that we have in this industry that a 24-inch waist is normal, and that's what people should have and should look like," Reinhart explained. "I just find it disturbing that they felt the need to alter our bodies in order to cater to what they thought would sell better, or what they thought is more attractive."
The actress also clarified that "there's nothing wrong with people who have 24-inch waists." She just does not want to be edited to look like "something that [she's] not."
In a separate interview, Mendes said she felt "very insulted" when she realized she had been retouched without her consent.
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Mendes told People in late March that she and Reinhart were "shocked" that the magazine edited their bodies despite the actresses' frequent body-positive statements.
"That [Cosmopolitan Philippines] would...manipulate our bodies when we are literally preaching body positivity is so personally insulting, and it's also insulting to the readers," the actress said. "You're spreading a false message about what people look like, you know? If my waist was that slim then great, do whatever you want, but it's not!"
In September 2017, actress and singer Bella Thorne asked GQ Mexico not to retouch her photos to show shes not perfect.
The 19-year-old star shared a photo of herself on Instagram from a spread inthe magazine.
In the caption for the post, Thorne revealed how she "specifically asked" the magazine not to retouch the photo despite having "insecurities about pretty much everything."
Thorne urged her followers to embrace and talk openly about their insecurities.
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images
She wrote on Instagram:"Know that it's completely normal to feel insecure. [...] Honestly, I wish everyone talked more about their insecurities so more people in the world could know they aren't alone."
The actress also explained how public figures are often retouched in magazines to avoid "public trashing" of their perceived flaws or insecurities. "Cuz yeah, if they show my acne scars or a wrinkle in my forehead or my teeth aren't perfectly white, people will look at the photo and say, 'No, she's not perfect,'" she wrote.
Thorne continued: "But f--- it, I'm here to tell you that's right, I'm not F------ PERFECT. I'M A HUMAN BEING AND I'M REAL. So hip hop your a---- over the fence and GET OVER IT."
Also in September 2017, model Emily Ratajkowski said French magazine Madame Figaro edited her lips and breasts to look smaller.
Emily Ratajkowski/Instagram
"I was extremely disappointed to see my lips and breasts altered [...] on this cover," Ratajkowski wrote in an Instagram post .
Ratajkowski shared an unedited version of the magazine cover on Instagram, along with a critique of the fashion industry.
"Everyone is uniquely beautiful in their own ways. We all have insecurities about the things that make us different from a typical ideal of beauty. I, like so many of us, try every day to work past those insecurities ... I hope the fashion industry will finally learn to stop trying to stifle the things that make us unique and instead begin to celebrate individuality," the model wrote .
In May 2017, Iskra Lawrence criticized heavily edited photos of herself on Instagram.
Not only were her legs, arms, and waist slimmed down, her eye bags and skin were also smoothed out using a photo-editing software. "And the WORST thing about it ... I WANTED TO LOOK LIKE THIS," Lawrence wrote in the caption for the photos.
In her post, Lawrence also explained why you shouldnt compare yourself to images you see online.
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Lawrence ended the post with a positive message: "Please NEVER EVER compare yourself to images you see, many aren't real. Perfect does NOT exist so trying to achieve that is unrealistic and editing your pictures will not make you happy. What's real is YOU, your imperfectly perfect self that's what makes you magical, unique and beautiful."
In 2015, Spanish actress Inma Cuesta criticized a newspaper for digitally slimming down her arms and waist.
Known for her role in the popular Spanish TV series "guila Roja," Cuesta posted a side-by-side comparison of the edited photo (left) and the original photo (right) on Instagram.
In the edited photo, which was featured on the cover of a Catalan newspaper called "El Peridico," Cuesta's arms, waist, skin, and neck have been retouched.
"The photograph on the right was taken with my cellphone from the computer during the shoot, entirely me, with no smoke or mirrors, just Inma," the actress wrote on Instagram, asEl Pas translated . She continued: "This is not the first time this has happened, but this is going too far and I feel ashamed."
In her post, Cuesta also called the edited photo "an invention" that made her look like "an expressionless doll."
Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
The actress, who argued that women should be free from "stereotypes" and "rules of beauty," added: "Seeing yourself and not recognizing yourself, discovering that your image is in the hands of people whose sense of beauty is unreal."
El Peridico later apologized for the cover but claimed that the newspaper had only received the edited versions, and not the original photos, from the photographer.
That same year, Zendaya expressed her disapproval when she saw an edited photo of herself on a magazine cover.
The actress posted a before-and-after comparison of the photo on Instagram and thanked Modeliste Magazine for taking down the retouched version (left).
Zendaya, who was only 19 years old at the time, said she " was shocked " when she realized that her hips and torso had been "quite manipulated" and slimmed down.
"Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love," Zendaya wrote in the caption for the post.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
The actress also explained why she didn't approve of the magazine's use of photo-editing software: "These are the things that make women self-conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have."
In April 2017, Kim Kardashian West shared a body-positive message in response to a series of paparazzi shots of her on vacation.
Earlier this year, photos of Kardashian West in a bikini began to circulate on social media. Specifically, people online mocked the reality TV star for everything from the size of her butt to her visible cellulite.
At first, Kardashian West was seemingly unbothered and took to Twitter to address the body shamers. "Oh and as for me you ask? ...I'm just sitting here on the beach with my flawless body," she tweeted .
However, Kardashian West later claimed that the photos were digitally altered and even drove her to start working out more.
In an interview with "The View" in June, the reality TV star insisted that the paparazzi shots had been edited to make her look "way worse."
"I saw these awful photos of myself when I was on a trip in Mexico and people were [editing] them and sharpening them," Kardashian West said on the show . After seeing the photos, the beauty mogul, who "hadn't worked out in about twelve weeks," started training with a bodybuilder and "totally changed" her diet.
Interestingly enough, Kardashian West has embraced her cellulite before, when she spoke out against an edited image of her in the April/May 2009 issue of Complex Magazine. "So what: I have a little cellulite. What curvy girl doesn't!?" she wrote in a post on her website that has since been deleted.
Lady Gaga criticized her December 2013 Glamour cover for being too heavily airbrushed.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images and Patrick Demarchelier/Glamour
On stage at Glamours "Women of the Year" Awards, Lady Gaga encouraged her fans to "fight back against the forces that make them feel like theyre not beautiful."
In her speech, the singer made it clear that she disapproved of the cover: "I felt my skin looked too perfect. I felt my hair looked too soft [...] I do not look like this when I wake up in the morning."
Addressing the media, she added: "It is fair to write about the change in your magazines. But what I want to see is the change on your covers [...] When the covers change, that's when culture changes."
Kate Winslet set the record straight when she saw that her legs had been slimmed down on the cover of GQ Magazines February 2003 issue.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images and Jason Bell/GQ
In response to thecover, the actress told Hello! Magazine : "The retouching is excessive. I do not look like that and more importantly, I don't desire to look like that. I actually have a Polaroid that the photographer gave me on the day of the shoot [] I can tell you they've reduced the size of my legs by about a third. For my money, it looks pretty good the way it was taken."
However, GQ's editor, Dylan Jones, defended the magazine's use of photo-editing software and told BBC News that Winslet had been altered "no more than any other cover star." He added:"We do that for everyone, whether they are a size six or a size 12 [...] Practically every photo you see in a magazine will have been digitally altered in this way."
In 2016, Meghan Trainor took down the music video for her song "Me Too" after her waist was digitally slimmed down reportedly without her consent.
Trainor's "Me Too" music video was released on May 10, 2016. Within a few hours, the singer started to notice photos of her edited waist online, after fans started postingscreenshots from the video.
Trainor, who screamed in her hotel room and cried when she first saw the altered images, immediately texted the video's editors, "I never asked you to touch my waist. I want my waist back." The singer also posted a side-by-side comparison of the edited video (left) and the original video (right) on Instagram .
"I took down the YouTube video because they [edited] the crap out of me, and Im so sick of it," Trainor told her fans in a Snapchat video.
The singer later approved a non-edited version of the "Me Too" music video, which was released on YouTube and Vevo later that day.
Kerry Washington appeared on the April 2016 cover of Adweek but she could barely recognize herself.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images and Adweek
In an Instagram post , Washington revealed how she was " excited and thrilled " when Adweek first asked her to be on the cover: "I always celebrate it when a respected publication invites me to grace their pages. It's an honor. [Adweek is]a publication I appreciate. And learn from."
Despite being "proud of the article," Washington was "taken aback" when she saw the cover.
The actress explained on Instagram that while she was "no stranger" to photo-editing software, "it felt strange to look at a picture of [herself]" that was "so different" than what she saw in the mirror. "It's an unfortunate feeling," Washington continued.
She added: "In a way, we have become a society of picture adjusters who doesn't love a filter?!? And I don't always take these adjustments to task, but I have had the opportunity to address the impact of my altered image in the past and I think it's a valuable conversation."
Former professional tennis player Andy Roddick poked fun at his Mens Fitness cover back in 2007.
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images and Men's Fitness
"Little did I know I have 22-inch guns and a disappearing birthmark on my right arm," Roddick wrote on his blog after he saw the cover . In the photo, his arms had reportedly been edited to make his biceps look larger.
In 2014, Lorde celebrated her "flaws" on Twitter after seeing photos of herself that had been edited to remove her acne.
The singer encouraged her fans to embrace any blemishes or imperfections they may have. She wrote : "i find this curious two photos from today, one edited so my skin is perfect and one real. remember flaws are ok :-)."
Mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey accidentally posted an edited image of herself on Instagram in February 2016 and immediately apologized to her fans.
Along with her apology, the UFC champion shared a side-by-side comparison of the original (left) and altered (right) photos on Instagram . In the caption for the post, Rousey claimed that she was sent a picture "to share on social" that had been altered to make her arms "look smaller" without her knowledge or consent.
She continued: "I won't say by who I know it was done with severely misplaced positive intentions but this goes against everything I believe and I am extremely proud of every inch of my body."
Nicki Minaj claimed that her forehead was retouched without her consent on ESPNs February 2014 cover.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images and ESPN
The singer posted the cover on Instagram with the caption , "When retouching goes wrong."
Minaj also posted original images from the photoshoot for the sake of comparison.
"I love my personal unretouched photos where my forehead doesn't mysteriously grow in length," she captioned one of the unaltered photos.
After Priyanka Chopra posed on the cover of Maxim in 2016, her missing armpit went viral on social media.
Rob Kim/Getty Images and Maxim
When people saw Chopra's Maxim cover, they pointed out that her armpit "looked [edited] out of existence."
The actress later joked about the incident on Twitter.
Chopra posted a photo on Twitter, in which she posed with both her arms raised, and wrote: "Here's another 'pit-stopping' picture to add to the debate. #WillTheRealArmpitPleaseStandUp #nofilter #armpitdiaries."
