The world’s youngest ‘self-made’ billionaire, Kylie Jenner has had one hell of a time marketing herself this April. As we all know, Jenner’s brand consists of her looking flawless and promoting products from her cosmetics line, Kylie Cosmetics. While we’re 100% behind a woman making that dough, it would be refreshing to see some authenticity.
Alas, Jenner’s fire was forged in the cauldron of reality TV and that format rarely breeds anything remotely genuine or that resembles anyone’s actual lived experience. With this ethos in mind, let’s take a look at Jenner’s very awkward April.
Episode 1: Kylie Jenner’s poolside photoshoot fail.
Jenner shared a set of photos of herself on Instagram ‘lounging’ around the pool of her newly purchased $36 million mansion in Holmby Hills. The makeup mogul is pictured in a bathing suit really soaking up the California sun.
She captioned the gallery-style post “taco tuesday.” Relatable, right?
Jenner-watchers were quick to point out that something wasn’t quite right!
Can you spot something a little off with this picture? It can be difficult to pull your eyes away from Jenner, but let them wander to the edge of the pool where the shadow hits.
Does something seem a bit strange?
Here, take a closer look:
We edited in an arrow to help you find the large ‘dip’ in the side of the pool. The curvature is a tell-tale sign that the image has been photoshopped or altered. The distortion is a common problem that occurs when people use apps like Facetune.
In case you’re not sold yet that the photo was indeed altered, take a look at another photo.
The photo was included in the same post and shows Jenner in exactly the same spot but in a different pose. What happened to the dip in the lip of the pool? It’s gone. Is Jenner magic or does this just prove the first photo was altered?
Let’s see what America is saying!
The backlash to Jenner’s photos was swift.
Kylie you are the worst using photoshop pic.twitter.com/eoGOsG0BqA
— Leo (@wichocantu98) April 28, 2020
kylie jenner too rich keep failing at facetune. girl let some professionals photoshop ur pics
— ???????????????? (@thefakeaaliyah) April 28, 2020
Is it any wonder women feel so insecure when people like Kylie Jenner are photoshopping their pics?!?!
— Abi (@abicooper15) April 29, 2020
America was not having it! Jenner must have read some of the online criticism because she took action.
At first, the 22-year-old (or her social media team) deleted the image that was receiving heat. Then, the image was uploaded again on Instagram, but with the messed up part cropped out of it.
Nothing to see here!
Although people continued to call Jenner out for the blunder, the post is still live.
Kylie first posted a slide of two Instagram pictures in the beach and one of them had clear photoshop that had me dead and then fans started noticing and commenting and she deleted it and reposted it with more pictures and cropped out the part that shows clear use of photoshop ???? pic.twitter.com/aThXlDwMul
— barsin (@barsin72509373) April 28, 2020
Jenner has yet to respond to the criticism after reposting the photo. It’s fine! There are bigger things to worry about like a global health crisis. Who cares about a little photo trickery?
This is not the first time the Kardashian-Jenner crew has stirred controversy with altered photos.
When Kourtney Kardashian was launching her lifestyle brand, Poosh, she posted this photo to her Instagram in which she was missing a thigh.
A month after Kourtney shared the uncanny picture, Khloe Kardashian shared an image that was equally unsettling.
Khloé Kardashian posted this photo and fans quickly realized there were too many fingers going on.
By our count, there are 14 fingers pictured here.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Khloé Kardashian Says Her Pregnancy Caused Her to Become ‘So Close’ with Sister Kim Kardashian
And, of course, Kim Kardashian admitted that her latest Christmas photo was photoshopped.
“The West Family Christmas Card 2019” had to be photoshopped to include North. Apparently, North West had a meltdown at the time of the shoot and had to be digitally added.
But, enough about altered photos, let’s look at some other events that happened in Kylie Jenner’s orbit in April.
Episode 2: Kylie Jenner VS trademark pirates.
Jenner is now in the midst of a legal battle over her daughter, Stormi Webster’s name. In new legal documents obtained by TMZ, Jenner is going after a company called Business Moves Consulting which filed to trademark ‘Stormi Couture’ a month after Jenner and her ex, Travis Scott welcomed their baby, Stormi.
In February 2019, Jenner applied for her own trademarks for Stormi, including one for ‘StormiWorld’ but got hit with a lawsuit from Business Moves Consulting because it claimed people would be confused by their similarities and it registered its ‘Stormi Couture’ trademark first.
Now, Jenner is on the counterattack over the trademark dispute.
She’s asking the trademark office to cancel the company’s ‘Stormi Couture’ trademark, claiming the company was fraudulent in its application and only got the trademark to capitalize on her daughter’s name.
The legal filing states that Stormi that “achieved fame in her own right,” and cites the media coverage of her daughter’s StormiWorld birthday parties [MamasUncut covered it] as proof of her daughter’s popularity.
“The Stormi name is well known, and uniquely and unmistakably is associated with Stormi Webster,” the documents assert.
A legal battle to make money off of your child’s name is completely normal. Who hasn’t been there?
Episode 3: Jenner learns to love paparazzi.
Kylie Jenner nearly broke the internet when paparazzi photos of her surfaced showing her without makeup and wearing sweats. For a moment, it seemed like the usually decadently dressed star was having a similar quarantine experience to the rest of us.
Less than a week later, new ‘paparazzi’ photos began circulating of the star looking Instagram-ready. In fact, she posted photos of herself in the same outfit to her IG account.
Because Jenner looked completely and utterly flawless in the photos, fans began to speculate that she photos were staged. In the photos, she’s pictured getting into her car with a facemask in hand. Notably, not on her face.
The photos looked too good to be true for some.
Kylie Jenner’s unedited paparazzi pics breaking the internet and Kylie responding with hiring a personal photographer to post “pap” pics but made him edit them is the most hilarious thing ever
— the baby in ice age was 6 feet tall (@EvelynVJohnson) April 27, 2020
Kylie Jenner is deliberately planning paparazzi photo shoots during a pandemic….. chile
— Mar (@marlisa_cam) April 26, 2020
Kylie Jenner really got one subpar (unphotoshopped) paparazzi pic of herself leaked and had a complete identity crisis
— ???? (@itmebit) April 26, 2020
Kylie supposedly staging a paparazzi shoot glammed up after everyone saw her out without make up actually makes me very sad
— Anitha (@Anitha__18) April 26, 2020
At the end of the day, we don’t know what’s motivating this young beauty mogul or the circumstances around these photos. There’s a very good chance that it was a coordinated plan to get outlets like this very one to write about the ‘controversy.’
However uncomfortable all of Jenner’s April shenanigans might make you feel, it’s an influencer’s world and we’re just living in it. Hopefully, more celebrities will listen to the criticism about altering images and how it contributes to unattainable beauty standards. Until then, Jenner’s got 172 million followers on her Instagram account and an empire worth a billion dollars.