All hail Serena Williams!
Several days after Sports Illustrated revealed the tennis champ as their Sportsperson Of the Year, Williams has been on the tail end of yet another body shaming controversy. On Monday, Dec. 14, the popular magazine unveiled Williams’ sexy cover, featuring the 34-year-old donned in a sheer, black lace bodysuit while sitting on her throne.
And while Williams‘ cover was quickly dubbed “too sexy” by some, others noticed there was something off about the cover photo, specifically, something about Serena’s legs. Unfortunately, the discussion surrounding Williams’ latest accomplishment has become less about Serena’s achievement and more about whether SI had photoshopped her thighs to appear smaller.
@serenawilliams Yaaaaasssss hontea! You are slaying on this cover! Your thighs look slimmer? Hope they didn’t photoshop your thunder.
— EbonieJohnsonCooper (@EJCThatsMe) December 14, 2015
Meanwhile, the mag denied altering the cover image beyond the standard retouching done in “normal magazine production.”
“The fact is that we didn’t do anything to change the integrity of the photo, change Serena’s likeness, or shape her body in any way,” Stephen Cannella, assistant managing editor at SI, told Cosmopolitan. “Every magazine’s photos are worked on, but the idea that we made her thighs or any other part of her smaller is silly.”
And while we’d like to believe the retouching was “normal,” we admit that Williams’ image while beautiful is heavily photoshopped. It appears that Williams may have felt the same way about the alleged photoshopping. In fact, following the backlash the three-time Grand Slam title recipient flashed her muscular thighs in a sheer gown for her induction as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson Of the Year in Manhattan on Tuesday, Dec. 15. For more photos of Williams flaunting her thick thighs, check out the gallery below.
