Lena Dunham used her Instagram account Monday to criticize Spanish magazine Tentaciones for photoshopping a picture of her, which features on the cover of the El País supplement this month.
Although she was pleased to be on the magazine's cover, the "Girls" star wasn't happy when she perceived the photo to be severely re-touched and her body made to appear slimmer than it is.
"Oh hello El Pais! I am genuinely honored to be on your cover and so happy you licensed a pic by @ruvenafanador, who always makes me feel gorgeous. BUT this is NOT what my body has ever looked like or will ever look like- the magazine has done more than the average photoshop," she captioned an Instagram photo of the cover on Monday. "So if you're into what I do, why not be honest with your readers? Much love, Lena."
In response, the publication issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that the photo was not re-touched and was the original obtained from a photo shoot she did with photographer Ruven Afanador in 2013 that was published in Entertainment Weekly.
The paper added that the image was used only after it was approved by the agency, the photographer and Dunham's publicist and has a reputation for not using Photoshop or any other digital tools to alter the appearance of the people the feature on the cover of the magazine or inside the publication.
The newspaper said that the only editing tool they used was to crop the picture to fit the cover's format.
Dunham later apologized to the publication for her accusation. "Hey Tentaciones - thank you for sending the uncropped image (note to the confused: not unretouched, uncropped!) and for being so good natured about my request for accuracy," the 29-year-old wrote on Instagram.
"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 said. "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.) I'm not blaming anyone (y'know, except society at large.)"
She continued to state how she has "a 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. Maybe it's turning 30," she added.
"Maybe it's seeing my candidate of choice get bashed as much for having a normal woman's body as she is for her policies. Maybe it's getting sick and realizing ALL that matters is that this body work, not that it be milky white and slim. But I want something different now," Dunham said before expressing her thanks to the magazine for clarifying the issue.
"Time to get to the bottom of this in a bigger way. Time to walk the talk. With endless love, Lena PS I'd love the Tentaciones subscription I was offered!" she wrote.
