Lil' Kim Speaks Out About 'Retouched' Magazine Cover Following Criticism

Lil' Kim is speaking out after the veteran rapper's recent magazine cover received harsh criticism.

On Tuesday night, September 19, the Queen Bee took to her Instagram Story to clarify the confusion over an image that was used for her latest appearance on Ebony magazine's Hip-Hop 50 cover. Upon the cover's debut, fans flooded the comment sections with criticism regarding the heavily photoshopped photo of Kim. Esteemed photographer Keith Major, who shot the other covers featuring Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beatz, Rick Ross and 50 Cent, commented that Kim "wanted to be in control of the retouching so this is what we got." Kim claims that's not the case.

“Who is this?!" she wrote over the cover in question. "Cuz that’s not the photo I approved or any other content they’ve put out. I always told Ebony it looked like a painting but they didn't want to listen. They said they loved it. It’s the sabotage for me. The funny s**t about this, is that this is THEIR retoucher! 🤣😩🤦‍♀️."

Amid the controversy, Kim's manager Big Smoove chimed in by posting the actual image they chose for the cover. Their image looks more like the New York native than the touched up photo that was posted.

"Me & @lilkimthequeenbee Stayed up for hours wit the team and Chose This 1 .. We have The Receipts Fool!" Smoove wrote in his IG Story. "For The Record We definitely didn't choose that other flick."

Ebony didn't necessarily address the controversy head-on, but they did release video of the photoshoot. Watch the footage and see the photo Kim's team selected below.