Little Love for J-Love's New Shape Cover

By Amy Wilkinson Posted Sep 26th 2009 09:24AM

No sooner did 'Ghost Whisperer' star Jennifer Love Hewitt bare her bikini body on Shape's October cover than did headlines like "Jennifer Love Hewitt is a Size 2 Again Thanks to Photoshop" and "How Much Photoshop Was Used On Jennifer Love Hewitt?" begin swirling around the blogosphere. In the issue, the 30-year-old Hewitt admits she's still insecure about her body from time to time. "I am a girl, after all!" she tells the magazine. But many are saying Hewitt's Shape figure doesn't match bikini photos taken of the actress just last month.

Blogs and other media outlets have been noting that Hewitt's newly svelte cover body doesn't quite match slightly curvier shots of the actress playing tennis in a black bikini last month. "Now, she is by no means an overweight woman, but even so, this health and fitness magazine airbrushed her size 2 ass," notes The Evil Beet.

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Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt is seen here showing off her figure at an Emmys party on September 20. Click to See More Pics of J-Love >>>

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Jennifer Love Hewitt Snapshots

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy pose for a picture at the 13th annual Entertainment Tonight Emmy party at Vibiana on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Toby Canham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jennifer Love Hewitt;Jamie Kennedy

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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Jennifer Love Hewitt poses for a picture at the 13th annual Entertainment Tonight Emmy party at Vibiana on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Toby Canham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jennifer Love Hewitt

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Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy arrive at the 13th Annual Entertainment Tonight and People Magazine Emmys After Party at the Vibiana on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. 13th Entertainment Tonight And People Magazine Emmys After Party - Arrivals Vibiana Los Angeles, CA United States September 20, 2009 Photo by Todd Williamson/WireImage.com To license this image (58436244), contact WireImage.com

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Jennifer Love Hewitt arrives at the 13th Annual Entertainment Tonight and People Magazine Emmys After Party at the Vibiana on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. 13th Entertainment Tonight And People Magazine Emmys After Party - Arrivals Vibiana Los Angeles, CA United States September 20, 2009 Photo by Todd Williamson/WireImage.com To license this image (58435694), contact WireImage.com

Todd Williamson/WireImage.com

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt arrives at the 13th Annual Entertainment Tonight and People Magazine Emmys After Party at the Vibiana on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. 13th Entertainment Tonight & People Magazine Emmys After Party - Red Carpet Vibiana Los Angeles, CA United States September 26, 2009 Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage.com To license this image (58432832), contact WireImage.com

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Hewitt is hardly the first star to fall prey to an overzealous, Photoshop-wielding art director. In August, another health and fitness magazine, Self, weathered a firestorm of criticism for its blatantly altered cover shot of singer Kelly Clarkson, 27, that was ironically accompanied by the coverline, "Stay true to you and everyone else will love you too!"

Women's blog Jezebel.com probably summarized the outcry best, writing, "So even though Kelly Clarkson has said she's confident at any size and [editor Lucy] Danziger points out that Clarkson works out and is 'as fit as anyone else we have featured in Self,' the magazine's staffers decided having her instantly shed a few pounds would make her look even more confident and healthy. Oh-kay, then."

Self editor Lucy Danziger responded to the brouhaha on her blog, defending the magazine and the practice of manipulating cover shots. In a post titled, "Pictures That Please Us," Danziger writes, "Portraits like the one we take each month for the cover of SELF are not supposed to be unedited or a true-to-life snapshot... We allow the postproduction process to happen, where we mark up the photograph to correct any awkward wrinkles in the blouse, flyaway hair and other things that might detract from the beauty of the shot."

She goes on to add, "Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best. Did we publish an act of fiction? No. Not unless you think all photos are that."

As savvy media consumers, we know that painful pimples and awkward cowlicks are almost always edited out of images, but is it naïve of us to expect that cover shots reasonably resemble the celebrity supposedly pictured? Hewitt's photo is not nearly as manipulated as Clarkson's but probably the most troubling aspect about both pictures is that they're on the front of health and fitness magazines. These aren't stylized fashion shots. These are magazines that tout ideals of health and wellness and self-acceptance. How can any publication in good faith encourage its readers to overlook their imperfections when every single imperfection has been removed from its models?

The bottom line is, it's probably not that big of a deal when a dimple of cellulite or an under eye shadow find their way to the digital graveyard, but in the case of Hewitt and Clarkson, we should care that cover models are an accurate representation of the ideals and headlines touted on magazine covers and in their pages. No matter what magazine editors tell us.

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Tags: bikini, ghost whisperer, GhostWhisperer, jennifer love hewitt, JenniferLoveHewitt, photoshop, photoshopped, shape, weight, weight loss, WeightLoss

Comments

(226)

Saturday 26 September

By Bobbb

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JLH IS FINE. THE DIFFERENCE THAT I CAN SEE IS THAT FOR A MAGAZINE COVER I AM SURE THEY HAVE A DIRECTOR, LIGHTING EXPERTS AND A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. WHO KNOWS WHAT KIND OF POPARAZZI LACKY TOOK THE OTHER SHOT AND IF HE WAS COMING OFF A BUZZ OR GETTING ONE, CLIMBING A TREE OR TAKING A WHIZZ BEHIND A BUSH SOMEWHERE WHEN HE TOOK THE SHOT.

Sunday 27 September

By clara

she has an AMAZING body. she doesn't need to be photo-shopped!

By Mari

I see different lighting, AND a different bikini that changes her shape and that is all. Well, she is smiling in the Shape photo and that is something that can change anyone, good shape or not! ! ! ! ! ! !

By Michele

So ridiculous. She looks fine. I wish I looked like her in either picture.

By ninjapwned

What the fake news hell is this? Look at the ratio of waist to hip. This is perfectly reasonable, and not obviously shopped or edited in any way. Professional photographer, correct lighting, angle, attire, and I'm sure they airbrushed afterward to make the skin smoother, possibly altering the shadow which would alter the appearance of size, but just look at the hip/waist ratio. Maybe a TINY bit different, but you could attribute that to lighting and angle, and if not, maybe *gasp* a tiny bit of exercise in the weeks leading up to the shoot? Is it too much to assume she may have shaved a fraction off? As far as the bust, well they've obviously got that pushed up with the top, but that's also not a digital manipulation nor is it in any way uncommon. She's 30. She has some sag. When she plays tennis, she isn't trying to push her chest out like a medieval tavern wench, she's trying to keep them from bouncing with a sports bra. They push them up here to make her look youthful and large, and tada, not a shop!

I'm not a woman, but did any actual females or anyone who lives with a female and might be familiar with their anatomy view this article before posting it? This is the fakest fake news in the history of faketown.

By Karen

I agree. It is all about pose and lighting. The photographer did a good job.

By james

She has an awesome body. In the pics, the magazine cover, I noticed her legs look a little different. her breasts look different, but she is wearing a top that pulls them in a different direction. If any photoshoping was done, I think it was in the legs. Anyway, she does not need it, I wish I had someone that had a great body like that!

By Thomas Moore

Are these people so insecure with themselves that they have to make a comment on jenniffer. She is so fine that it is hard to imagine but it is what it is.

By mike lachut

she is beautiful, and he is right. she looks great, even in the amature one. thax.

By MRS.E.

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I AGREE. YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED WHAT A REALLY EXPENSIVE BATHING SUIT, THE RIGHT LIGHTING AND ANGLE COULD DO...

By mrspeel

You're absolutely right. In the Aug pic, she wasn't standing in a glam position and the lighting was terrible. She's just fine!

By Steve

She looks perfect to me in both shots. The "difference" is really small, and yes, can easily be explained by things like lighting and even the angle she is standing in relation to the camera.

Monday 28 September

By PARVIZ

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

THE FACE NEEDS WORK____THEN AGAIN, YOU CAN ALWAYS COVER IT.

By popmiester

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I disagree with your opening statement....She is much more than fine...Much more.

By Jason Lydon

Every picture in a magazine or on a website is manipulated ("photoshopped"), except for the pictures used to make people look bad or should I say normal. This is a fact. If you think otherwise, you don't know anything about the business. Every picture you see, be it of a man, woman, animal, real estate, landscape, everything.

By Princess Poon

THis is so silly--in the mag photo she is standing in 3/4 so she will naturally appear smaller in the hips, but everything else looks the same. She's got a great figure, why all the fuss?

By Buff

I think Jennifer looks better in the bikini shot, except that she's frowning! Looks like a classical 1960's Ursala Andress shot, you know, when actresses had natural curves instead of straight lies and the perfect 36- 12-12-12!~

By Hugh Jass

Straight lies? Do you mean lines? Either way, I am wearing a "No Fat Chicks" T-Shirt right now. I am very amused.

By Rick

Use your zoom...I see no evidence of Photoshopping, and I think she looks hot. Besides,if some editors do Photoshop...who cares? Maybe you're against makeup and perfume too?

By Julianne

I am soooo sick to death of everyone picking on JLH. She is a gorgeous woman! She was even when she was heavier. Media is all over the weight issue. People go through things and life, and maintaining their weight is last on their mind. I think she rocks, I love her show!

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