Troian Bellisario Responds to 'Pretty Little Liars' Photoshop Criticism
The girls of ABC Family's hit TV show, Pretty Little Liars recently posed for GQ in a bikini-filled spread. But as the stars began to post sneak peeks on Instagram for the issue out in June, the feedback they received was not so positive.
Hayley Hoover of The Gloss, a lifestyle blog, criticized Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, and Shay Mitchell for the extreme use of Photoshop in the spread and many of their fans joined in.
The girls are known for speaking out about the dangerous affect women’s portrayal in media has on young women. Troian Bellisario opened up about her eating disorder to Seventeen, Lucy Hale urged fans to love themselves in their bikinis in Self and Ashley Benson called an ad for PLL a lie on Instagram because it was so Photoshopped.
“So doesn’t this photo seem kind of… out of place?” asked Hoover.
But Troian was quick to respond sharing behind-the-scenes photos and a lengthy caption. "So by now you have seen many a shot from #GQ and many people have said that we were photoshopped..." the Pretty Little actress captioned the pic. "OF COURSE WE WERE! that's a very specific type of photo shoot. And looking very blown out and perfected was obviously what they were looking for. Great. Cool. As long as we acknowledge how it was achieved so we know it's not real. "Here's some behind the scenes of my body the way it is and was on the day," Bellisario continued. "I'm not mad at how these pictures turned out, the girls and I had an absolute blast. More fun than we've had on a photoshoot in a while, and I think you can see that in our eyes and smiles."
"But it's the same everywhere," the 28-year-old actress explained. "It's the same way on the posters of our show and even in women's magazines. This industry seems to invest more in perfection than in flaw. But flaw and individuality, to me, are what make a human being interesting, they make our stories worth telling ... But my hips and thighs are a part of me (even though they magically weren't in some shots!) I get those things from my momma. And I'm happy To shake what my momma gave me." While the other Liars didn't directly respond to the criticisms, Shay shared another behind-the-scenes photo.
Troian ended her rant by Instagramming a picture of all four of them from the shoot and captioning it, "I mean. Photoshopped or not. I work with three of the most gorgeous women on the planet. (Goddesses without hair and make up as well)."
