According to EBONY magazine, Lil Kim apparently took control during her highly scrutinized cover shoot, leaving fans questioning who took the viral snap. The magazine’s photography director, Keith Major, finally addressed the heavily edited image on Instagram, revealing that Kim wanted to have a say in the retouching process responding to a fan by saying, “Man, she wanted to be in control of the retouching so this is what we got.”
However, Kim later denied Major’s claims, posting on her Instagram Story that the approved photo looked nothing like the one published. According to the rapper, she even conveyed her concerns about the photo resembling a painting, but the team ignored her. Interestingly, Kim pointed out that the retoucher responsible for the controversial edit was actually part of Ebony’s team, “Who is this?! Cuz that’s not the photo I approved or any other content they’ve put out…It’s the sabotage for me,” says Kim.
Fans had already suspected that Lil Kim did not have a hand in approving the unrecognizable photo, and their speculations were confirmed.