Khloé Kardashian Shouldn’t Have to Explain Why She Wanted That Unedited Picture Taken Down

She shared a powerful message about consent, body-shaming, and learning to love yourself.

Celebrities in general get a lot of flak surrounding highly edited photos on social media. However, the criticism and outright hate the Kardashians receive, particularly Khloé, is on a whole other level. By now, you’ve probably heard about the infamous unedited photo that began circulating the inter webs over Easter weekend, and is now scrubbed from all eternity as best it could be.

In case you haven’t, here’s a quick refresher. The Kardashian family as well as their significant others, including MJ (Kris Jenner’s mom) were at their Palm Springs bungalow to celebrate the holiday on Sunday, April 4th. The Good American founder uploaded a carousel of poolside bikini photos to her Instagram. However, MJ might have had a similar idea and snapped a shot of her granddaughter by the pool as well. Doesn’t seem like an issue, right? Wrong. Between Khloé’s and MJ’s photo, it’s obvious one received a little extra TLC prior to being posted for the world to see, and now fans are going wild on Twitter calling out the Keeping Up With Kardashian star for using image filtering apps such as FaceTune, which let’s be real, many of us do.

Kim Kardashian’s KKW Beauty Chief Marketing Officer Trace Romulus got involved immediately, citing it is within the right of the copyright owner to not want an image not intended to be published taken down. 

The photo is now—mostly—gone, but fans who’ve been supportive of Khloé’s health journey since the get-go are still confused as to why there was ever a problem in the first place. 

It’s not like she looks bad; she’s beautiful! The only real difference between photo A and photo B is the lighting, which is totally understandable since the photo was taken outside in broad daylight. Everyone knows direct sunlight can do crazy things to a photo. It’s not as if she enhanced her body or has a third arm sprouting out of her.

Up until last night, the Kardashians had remained silent on the matter, but Khloé has now spoken out and she’s shining some light on the situation. 

Late Wednesday night on April 7th, Khloé took to Instagram, uploading a body-positive gallery with two videos of her body unretouched and unfiltered, followed by four more slides of text.

She penned, “Hey guys, this me and my body unretouched and unfiltered. The photo that was posted this week is beautiful. But as someone who has struggled with body image her whole life, when someone takes a photo of you that isn’t flattering in bad lighting or doesn’t capture your body the way it is after working so hard to get it to this point—and then shares it to the world—you should have every right to ask for it to not be shared—regardless of who you are.”

“In truth, the pressure, constant ridicule and judgment my entire life to be perfect and to meet other’s standards of how I should look has been too much to bear. ‘Khloé is the fat sister.’ ‘Khloé is the ugly sister.’ ‘Her dad must not be her real dad because she looks so different.’ ‘The only way she could have lost that weight must have been from surgery.’ Should I go on?”

She went on to explain that she has been conditioned to believe she is not beautiful enough just being me.

“You never quite get used to being judged and pulled apart, and told how unattractive one is, but I will say, if you hear anything enough then you start to believe it,” she wrote. The KUWTK star also made a parallel to image filters and in-person filters like high heels, makeup, and nails. At the end of the day, both make you feel better, sexier, more confident, and they’re fun. So, how is wearing red stilettos, a smokey eye, and tie-dye nails any different than slapping on a filter that gives you that sunshine glow?

She acknowledges she isn’t perfect, but that also doesn’t give media or fans permission to micro-analyze or tear apart her appearance, especially when she’s worked so hard to get her body to where it’s at today. 

I mean, we’ve seen the Kardashians grow up on our TV screens for the last 14 years. We’ve literally watched each sister transform into the woman she is today. It’s not like one season they all showed to work looking exponentially different. Let us not forget, Khloé had her own show called Revenge Body. Also, like she said, she isn’t perfect. The gorgeous mom has stretch marks like just anyone else, and she embraces them. She’s not hiding anything.

To sum up her thoughts, Khloé addressed those who may also be struggling with body image or the expectation to be someone or a level of perfection they’re not. 

“For those else who feel the constant pressure of not ever feeling perfect enough, I want you to know I see you and I understand. Everyday I am told by my family and friends who love me that I am beautiful but I know that it needs to be believed from within,” she continued. “We are all unique and perfect in our own way. Whichever way one chooses to be seen. I have realized that we cannot continue to live life trying to fit into the perfect mold of what others have set for us. Just do you and make sure your heart is happy.”

Amen, Khloé! And we, too, hope your heart is happy!

Emily Weaver
Emily is a NYC-based freelance entertainment and lifestyle writer — though, she’ll never pass up the opportunity to talk about women’s health and sports (she thrives during the Olympics). Read more
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