Jessica Simpson spoke about “finally loving her body” for the Sept. 2010 issue of Lucky, according to the cover that the singer and former reality TV star appeared on. However, her image next to those words didn’t depict Simpson in her true form at all.
It’s a revelation that the magazine’s former editor-in-chief Kim France made in a blog post on Aug. 15 when reflecting on the prevalence of photoshopping on covers (after suspecting that there had been retouching on the latest issue of Vogue).
France then retold a story about an instance of editing that she was involved in and in hindsight, “not especially proud of.” Although it was “exciting” to get Simpson for the big 2010 cover, the process didn’t pan out as she might have hoped.
“When the cover film came in, we could see that [Simpson] 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,” France wrote for Cup of Jo. “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. … We made her skinnier — much skinnier than she actually was.”
France tells Yahoo Life that “it was an estimation” to label Simpson a size 14 at the time. Nevertheless, she says, “You simply didn’t see larger or even average-shaped women on covers back then, unless they were Oprah.”
How Lucky magazine feigned body positivity
Despite the heavily edited photo — and the criticism that the magazine faced for it at the time — Simpson’s issue of Lucky attempted to seem body positive in nature.
“Jessica Simpson has undergone a noteworthy personal style evolution, inspired, she says, by coming to terms with some serious body issues over the course of the last year,” reads an excerpt from the magazine. “She stopped fighting her hourglass silhouette, for instance, after realizing that ‘we all obsess over looking like the perfect Barbie type, and that’s not always what’s beautiful. It’s about making peace with yourself.'”
It was a minimal and contradictory effort when paired with the admission of retouching.
“That cover line is probably the most embarrassing aspect of the whole cover, and I obviously really regret it,” France says. “I think the idea of body positivityat the time was more a question of lip service, as opposed to now, when it seems to come from a more sincere place.”
Alex Light, a body confidence influencer, tells Yahoo Life, “It was a supposedly inspirational headline flanked by an image that many didn’t know was edited to make her body look completely different and fit in with the beauty standards (read: thinness) of that time.”
Jessica Simpson’s body was ‘slimmed down’ for Lucky’s issue: ‘Obviously really regret it,’ former editor says. Jessica Simpson’s body was ‘slimmed down’ for Lucky’s issue: ‘Obviously really regret it,’ former editor says