The girls of ABC's "Pretty Little Liars" are speaking up, after critics bashed GQ Magazine for digitally altering their photos in a recent spread.
Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario and Shay Mitchell are featured in a sexy swimwear photoshoot spread for the June 2014 issue of GQ. In one shot, the ladies are dressed in two-pieces and heels while trying to pull a white towel off of a guy standing poolside. Another shows Benson, 24, imitating Marilyn Monroe while showing off her curvy figure in a black bathing suit, and Hale sporting a Louis Vuitton red-checked top with white cut-offs.
Hayley Hoover of The Gloss wrote: "While I understand that GQ's target demographic is probably, you know, not high school girls, it still makes me sad to see some of the smartest female characters on TV getting reduced to shiny, poreless Barbies."
After the pictures were released Bellisario responded to tweets that claimed the girls were photoshopped.
"So by now you have seen many a shot from #GQ and many people have said that we were photoshopped...OF COURSE WE WERE!" the 28-year-old actress wrote via Instagram on Wednesday. "That's a very specific type of photoshoot. And looking very blown out and perfected was obviously what they were looking for. Great. Cool. As long as we acknowledge how it was achieved so we know it's not real."
Bellisario also shared some behind-the-scenes snaps of herself posing in three different bikinis and added that she was not upset on how the photos came out. In a lengthy message, Bellisario said she and her "Pretty little Lairs" co-stars had a blast on set.
"The girls and I had an absolute blast. More fun than we've had on a photoshoot in a while, and I think you can see that in our eyes and smiles. But it's the same everywhere," Bellisario explained. "It's the same way on the posters of our show and even in women's magazines. This industry seems to invest more in perfection than in flaw. But flaw and individuality, to me, are what make a human being interesting, they make our stories worth telling (Unfortunately the flaws don't usually sell products or magazines)."
Bellisario added: "I'm proud of my body and the way it looks because @themarkwildman kicks my butt in aerial. But my hips and thighs are a part of me (even though they magically weren't in some shots!) I get those things from my momma. And I'm happy To shake what my momma gave me."
Last December, Benson slammed a photoshopped poster promoting the ABC Family show.
What do you think of the "PLL" actresses spread for GQ?
