Image: Getty.
Update: The Spanish magazine Lena Dunham called out for “mad photoshop” earlier this week has released an open letter, explaining the image had been cropped, not retouched.
“Of course, we are aware that any media outlet needs to be responsible for what it publishes, but this photo was previously approved by the agency, the photographer and your publicist … we used the original that they sent us without applying any kind of retouching,” Tentaciones staff wrote.
Yesterday, Dunham responded by sharing the original photo on Instagram and explaining she’d accepted the magazine’s apology.
“I understand that a whole bunch of people approved this photo before it got to you- and why wouldn’t they? I look great,” she wrote.
"But it's a weird feeling to see a photo and not know if it's your own body anymore (and I'm pretty sure that will never be my thigh width but I honestly can't tell what's been slimmed and what hasn't.)"
The Girls star then went on to admit her initial reaction was tied to her "long and complicated" history with retouching.
"I wanna live in this wild world and play the game and get my work seen, and I also want to be honest about who I am and what I stand for," Dunham wrote.
"Thanks for helping me figure that out and sorry to make you the problem, you cool Spanish magazine you. Time to get to the bottom of this in a bigger way."
We originally wrote:
As a successful writer, actress and director, Lena Dunham is no stranger to magazine covers. From interviews to Instagram, she's made a name for herself for being unfiltered and not afraid to call out bullsh*t when she sees it.
So when a magazine decided to put her on their cover with some serious alterations thanks to Photoshop, body confidence advocate Dunham wasn't going to sit back silently. Instead, she called them out to her almost 2.5 million followers.
"Oh hello Spanish magazine Tentaciones! I am genuinely honored to be on your cover and so happy you used a pic by @ruvenafanador - he always makes me feel gorgeous," she wrote.
"But this is not what my body has ever looked like or will ever look like- mad photoshop has been done to this iteration. So if you're into what I do, why not be honest with your readers? Much love, Lena."
No swearing, no threats - just a straight-to-the-point polite message that Dunham ain't supporting it.
Watch: Christine Anu on body image. (Post continues after video.)
It was a move her followers were quick to praise.
"Sad really! Your ACTUAL body is fabulous! Why distort it? You are awesome!" wrote myeuphoria, while user rubenski added: "That's why I like you! Preach!!"
It's not the first magazine cover photoshop error Dunham has been subject to. (Post continues after gallery.)
We love these celebrity body image quotes
In 2014, the Girls creator called out Jezebel after the publication offered $10,000 for untouched pictures of Dunham's infamous Vogue cover (that itself was criticised for being only a headshot rather than full body) which she maintained had been subject to only "minimal" retouching.
"I was kind of scared to see the un-retouched images of me, I was like, maybe I’m delusional and I don’t look how I think I look. And it was like—they smoothed a line here, and shaved a line on my neck. It was the most minimal retouching. I felt completely respected by Vogue," she told Grantland.
As a voice that encourages everyone to love themselves and their bodies as they are, we're giving Dunham a big round of applause for showing what's real and what's definitely not.
What do you think of Photoshop in magazines?