Lil Kim & ‘Ebony’ Photographer Point Fingers Over Viral Cover

Lil Kim and her team refuse to take the blame for the extremely retouched look of her viral Ebony magazine cover image.

On her Instagram Stories Sept. 19, the Queen Bee expressed a feeling of betrayal regarding the cover’s result. She posted a photo of the image and asked, “Who is this?!”

The “Crush On You” rapper said she didn’t approve of the cover ultimately chosen. She also firmly claimed that whoever botched the editing was the publication’s retoucher. 

“I always told Ebony it looked like a painting, but they didn’t wanna listen. They said they loved it. It’s the sabotage for me,” the iconic femcee wrote. 

Kim reposted several comments regarding the seemingly problematic process of how the image made it to Ebony’s cover.

One of the reposts included accusations from self-proclaimed “social media manager to the stars,” Raisa Sendrovich, who lists Kim as one of her clients. Raisa alleged that the exposure of the cover shoot’s photos was so low that the images were unsalvageable. She backed up Kim’s claim that Ebony’s retoucher was responsible for the poor editing. 

“I heard you got fired after this shit. Let’s talk about that, sir,” Raisa wrote to the shoot’s photographer, and Ebony’s Director of Photography, Keith Major. “There’s so much more to the story. I had to say something,” she added later.

Another of Kim’s reposts called out those continuously harboring on how she looked before versus how she looks now. The online user, a creative director who’s worked with the femcee, argued that Kim doesn’t care about others’ opinions on her appearance. They also asserted that all the current chatter emphasized the rapper’s longstanding relevance — especially as “the blueprint.”

Kim later reposted the alleged photo she and her team approved for the cover. The image looks exactly like the one chosen — possibly without an overlay filter.

Source: Courtesy of / Instagram

Source: Courtesy of / Instagram

 The rapper’s image has gone viral since the commemorative Ebony cover’s drop Sept. 18, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop.

Draped in a silky-looking pink garment, the former Junior M.A.F.I.A. artist posed on the cover with a crown placed on her head. 

Regardless of the shoot’s glam, what caught netizens’ attention was how the 49-year-old’s face looked highly and poorly edited. The comments under Ebony’s Instagram post that debuted the cover were filled with discussions on how unrecognizable Kim was — or how the image’s editing was trash. 

“Harpo…. Who dis woman?”

“Whoever did the editing need to be fired.”

“This GOTTA be AI cuz that look nowhere near Lil Kim.”

“Lik Kim ain’t even looking like lil Kim no more.”

The image’s photographer pointed the finger when one user asked, “Who photographed this?”

Keith said, “Man, she wanted to be in control of the retouching. So this is what we got.”

Source: Courtesy of / Instagram

Despite the cover’s controversy and the drama between Keith and Kim’s camp, the breadth of the rapper’s influence was the focus of her Ebony interview.

“When I think of cultural disruption I think of innovators. I think of people who check game, and I’ve been told that about myself,” the legendary musician, fashionista and author noted. 

Read about Kim’s forthcoming memoir below.

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