Kendall Jenner has responded after a photoshopped image of her holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign went viral.
Kendall Jenner denies involvement in what she called a “photoshopped” version of an old picture of her that stirred controversy online.
The image shows Jenner wearing a black mask and holding a cardboard sign that said “Black Lives Matter.” The shadow on the concrete made it clear that it was edited.
The image went viral when tech influencer Andru Edwards. tweeted the picture on Friday, June 5, captioning it, “What’s missing from @KendallJenner’s shadow?”
Edwards’ picture was a screenshot of a Facebook post from a page called ’20K’. He claimed he saw the screenshot circulating on Facebook and Reddit.
However, eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice that the placard in her hands didn’t appear in the reflection behind her, leading to accusations that she’d photoshopped the image before posting it.
The Backlash
And people began sharing the image alongside outraged captions. In fact, the original post has now racked up over 200,000 retweets and almost 1 million likes.
“Stop photoshopping signs into your pictures and actually use your platform to do some good,” wrote one person.
Spotting edited photos posted by the Kardashian/Jenner family — and celebrities in general — has become an internet pastime. At first, Jenner was accused of manipulating and posting the photo, but Edwards said that he knew it was a fan edit.
“Taking someone else’s image and then editing it to make it look like they support (or disapprove of) a cause is pretty deceptive and takes away from anything that person may have said/done in the past,” Edwards said in a direct message on Twitter.
A Twitter user with the handle @monmon_jones replied to the tweet with the original image of Jenner. Based on Jenner’s outfit and the car behind her, it was taken in November. The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star spent that day racing cars with friends including Tyler, the Creator.
Jenner responded to the tweet on Saturday. “This is photoshopped by someone,” she said. “I DID NOT post this.”
After Jenner denied the Photoshopping allegations, Edwards took to Twitter on Sunday, June 7 with a follow-up statement and a proposition. “Oh boy. When @KendallJenner quote tweets you, the DMs get flooded with an angry mob! Kendall, come on the podcast and let’s talk it out!”
In fact, it appears that the photo was actually taken in November 2019. It shows Kendall at a race track where she spent her 24th birthday with friends and family. Here’s the original image.
Kendall addresses #BlackLivesMatter
Jenner last week shared a message of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and the police-brutality protests sparked by George Floyd’s killing on May 25.
“I acknowledge my white privilege and promise I will continue to educate myself on how I can help,” she said in an Instagram caption.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking these past few days and my heart has been so heavy,” Kendall’s post said. “I’m angry and hurt just like so many.”
She continued: “I will never personally understand the fear and pain that the black community go through on a daily basis”.
Jenner went on, “but I know that nobody should have to live in constant fear.”
Kendall went on to acknowledge her white privilege, before urging her followers to “take real action” away from social media and reminding them to vote.
Plenty of others accused Kendall of being insensitive — especially in light of her controversial Pepsi commercial. The commercial resurfaced again last week as Black Lives Matter protests took place across the world.
The 2017 advert showed Kendall leaving a photoshoot to join a protest and calming the situation with a can of Pepsi. After thousands of people started complaining about the “tone-deaf” and “inappropriate” commercial. Pepsi pulled the following day with releasing an official apology.
Kendall addressed the backlash 6 months later. She revealed that she felt “so fucking stupid” for participating. She added that she never would have agreed had she known the uproar the commercial would cause.
