Justin Bieber has verbally addressed those Photoshopping rumors that sparked after his Calvin Klein ads were revealed in early January. He has denied any such enhancement took place.
The superstar talked about the Photoshop rumors while filming behind-the-scenes footage for his recent cover shoot with Men’s Health , having previously dismissed the carping with a shirtless selfie captioned “Photoshop lol” that he posted on Instagram.
Now, Bieber has taken on the speculation more directly.
In the video below, Bieber declares, “I love that I got in shape the past two years and I’m finally getting recognition for it. It’s not Photoshopped for all you fools out there saying it’s Photoshopped.?” It stands to reason Bieber likely also intends that statement to apply to his Men’s Health cover and any future images.
Back in January, within days of Calvin Klein revealing Bieber as the face and body of their Jeans and Underwear spring 2015 campaign, some questioned whether the heartthrob’s muscles and – ahem – package had been jacked.
Although the website that claimed the Calvin Klein ads were photoshopped, while posting a later discredited, “unretouched” GIF image of Bieber eventually retracted their claims, it’s notable that Bieber has now verbalized a denial.
It remains to be seen if Bieber’s statement ends the mockery of his Calvin Klein ads, which prompted a Saturday Night Live parody — among many — last month.
Meanwhile, just as Bieber sees off one controversy, his cover with Men’s Health has been questioned after Gawker alleged a tipster claimed the Biebs’ image is Photoshopped .
This is despite a behind-the-scenes video clearly showing the singer is ripped — and more pertinently — -looks exactly the same in motion as he does in his latest cover.
In response, multiple representatives at Men’s Health have denied that Bieber’s cover is Photoshopped, including the editor . Some of those denials are detailed below.
From Men’s Health editor-in-chief, Bill Phillips, replying to a Twitter request for comment from this reporter:
@Page_Mackinley @brianboye The video doesn’t lie–those are his muscles: http://t.co/dLobajbrMP
— Bill Phillips (@billphillipsMH) March 5, 2015
From the magazine’s official Twitter account:
@Jslab425 No enhancement, no photoshop.
— Men’s Health Mag (@MensHealthMag) March 4, 2015
From the magazine’s fashion and grooming director, Brian Boye:
Word is OUT. @justinbieber fronts our April @menshealthmag issue. http://t.co/3h6vYShQN8 . No Photoshop involved. I was there.
— Brian Boye (@brianboye) March 5, 2015
A spokesperson for the mag told E! News that the Biebs looked “amazing” on their April cover. They also pre-empted Photoshop speculation in tweets of a picture of the issue, writing ,
“Our April issue has @justinbieber— can he reinvent himself? See 10 (unphotoshopped) photos.”
For further transparency, in addition to the behind-the-scenes of Bieber’s photo shoot, the magazine also posted a video showing the work done after the shots were taken. Frankly, Men’s Health have gone out of their way to show readers and inevitable critics exactly how their cover story with the singer came together.
All of which begs the question: Is the current negative murmuring about the singer’s latest cover by some, more about a general climate of hostility towards Justin Bieber than actual, legitimate criticism?
[Images via Peter Hapak/Men’s Health/Calvin Klein]
