Kelly Clarkson appeared on the cover of the September issue of Self in a photo that was so altered it looked nothing like her. She was very obviously Photoshopped thinner, and Self editor Lucy Danzinger wrote a haughty blog entry in response to the criticism saying that they’d only made Clarkson “look her personal best.” Danzinger also offered an anecdote about how she even had her own hips Photoshopped thinner – after running the marathon for goodness sake! Well if even you needed to get some airbrushing help, Lucy, we’ll forgive you for having your graphic artists make Clarkson look like a different person.

Clarkson talked to UK’s Heat magazine, and said that the controversy didn’t bother her exactly, but that she thought the photo looked like someone else. I’ve read Heat and they do run celebrity interviews that are legitimate and not cobbled-together pieces from other sources, as British magazine occasionally do. These look like new quotes, although without seeing the original article it’s hard to tell:

Now Clarkson has opened up about the controversy, admitting she was shocked by the pictures, but accepts all photo shoots inevitably involve the airbrush.

She tells Britain’s Heat magazine, “The whole airbrushing thing has gone crazy. I was like, ‘Who is that on the cover of the magazine?’ They were obviously not happy with what I look like. I’m not being mean about myself, but I just found it funny. I think it’s just one of those things that people have got so used to doing that they don’t even think twice about it.”

[From SFGate]

Kelly is right – they usually just make everyone look homogeneous and think that’s what the public expects. At least Self was forced to think twice about it when it became such a controversy in the media. Do you think Self will take some of the criticism to heart at all and start to feature larger models, as Glamour has done with size 12 model Lizzie Miller? I would bet that all Self does is decide never to use a cover model again that isn’t a thin, super-fit woman that they still airbrush to Barbie-level proportions. Editor Danzinger said that the Clarkson issue “the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.” Self’s idea of “true” is having to use a few extra keystrokes to achieve the illusion of perfection.

Self Magazine editor Lucy Danziger, who counts J.Lo among her best buddies, has issued a cringe-inducing statement in response to the outcry over how much thinner Kelly Clarkson looks on the cover of Self this month. Without outright admitting that Clarkson was Photoshopped to look thinner, Danzinger claims that the picture was retouched to “make her look her personal best,” adding “I think this photo is the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.” Give me a break. If that’s the case, it shows how “true” Self normally is.

Kelly Clarkson may not have an issue with her weight, but a digitally slimmed-down image of the singer on the cover of Self magazine is causing waves online.

Lucy Danziger, editor-in-chief of the women’s health magazine, is speaking out in defense of “retouching” the 27-year-old singer in order to make her “look her personal best” on the September issue.

“Yes. Of course we do retouching,” Danziger writes in a post on Self.com. “Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best.”

Calling Clarkson “the picture of confidence,” Danzinger writes, “I think this photo is the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.”

But many readers have expressed disappointment and outrage over the digitally slim Clarkson. “Hey, hi, Self ladies: None this changes or explains the fact that YOU ALTERED THE BONE STRUCTURE OF HER FACE,” write one reader on jezebel.com where the controversy is stewing.

Adds another reader: “Taking out red eye and airbrushing a pimple would be making her look her personal best. You completely changed the way her body looked. Why even bother asking Kelly Clarkson to pose in your magazine if you didn’t think her body fit into your idea of what was best?”

In the Self article, Clarkson defends her figure. “When people talk about my weight, I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t. I’m fine!,’ ” Clarkson says. “I’m never trying to lose weight – or gain it,” she added. “I’m just being!”

This is not the first photo flap the singer has been involved with: In January Clarkson wrote on her blog that “they Photoshopped the crap out of me!” on her All I Ever Wanted album cover image.

[From People.com]

How haughty was that statement from Danziger? It’s like she’s saying “Yes, we photoshopped the crap out of Clarkson, but she needed it and still isn’t up to the Barbie standard we usually present.” What the hell is that “truest” photo crap? That just makes me angry. If they didn’t think Clarkson was worthy of the cover, they shouldn’t have put her on it. Clarkson is lovely as she is, and it’s not fair to her to Photoshop her so much slimmer and then present quotes from her inside the magazine that contradict the image they’re presenting. Self’s cover this month reveals their priorities. All the large text is about “Slim Down,” “Foods that Fight Fat,” “Body Confidence… Reach Your Goal Weight,” and then – way up in the corner in much smaller font it says “Kelly Clarkson: Stay True to You and Everyone Else Will Love you Too!” Everyone except snotty fitness magazine editors who think you need a lot of help looking your “personal best” and still remain their “truest” cover ever.

Update: I read Danzinger’s entire blog entry on this issue, and I stand by my original assessment: it was bitchy. Here’s an excerpt where she says she even Photoshopped herself – after she ran the marathon for goodness sake!

When I ran the marathon five years ago, I was so proud of myself for completing it in under five hours and not walking a single step. But my hips looked big in some of the photos (I was heavier then), so when I wanted to put one of them on the editor’s letter in SELF, I asked the art department to shave off a little. I am confident in my body, proud of what it can accomplish, but it just didn’t look the way I wanted in every picture.

[From Self.com]

Here is Lucy Danziger with J.Lo last August. She helped train Lopez for that mini-triathalon she did at the time. Credit: WENN.com

She’ll always be known as the first (and arguably best) winner of the hit talent show American Idol, but there was a time when Kelly Clarkson wanted nothing to do with the show that made her famous. But when Kelly wanted to appear on American Idol a few weeks ago to perform her new single, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” it came with a condition: she had to apologize to AI judge Simon Cowell, along with other show executives, for dissing the show in the past.

Kelly Clarkson has come crawling back to Simon Cowell.

The Season 1 American Idol winner performed her new single “My Life Would Suck Without You” on the March 11 show – but Simon and other AI execs wouldn’t approve her appearance until she apologized for slighting them in the past.

“American Idol made Kelly a star, but she’s tried to distance herself from the show,” said a source close to the show. “Kelly has appeared on Idol when she’s needed to promote her music, but has acted embarrassed to be associated with the show when she didn’t need a career boost.

“Because of Kelly’s lack of loyalty, Simon has always felt that Kelly bit the hand that fed her.”

Simon called out the former Texas cocktail waitress for refusing to let Season 5 contestants sing her songs.

“No matter how talented Kelly Clarkson is, she would not be in the position she’s in now without winning this show,” Simon complained in an interview. “It’s a shame.”

Kelly, 26, returned to Idol two seasons after that bitter controversy, but Simon continued to hold a grudge, say sources.

“After her last controversial album, My December, Kelly felt she needed to return to Idol to promote her new album, All I Ever Wanted. Kelly went with hat in hand and apologized for her part in the differences they had,” the source said.

[From The National Enquirer print version, April 6, 2009]

I can see why Kelly Clarkson and other artists would want to appear on the show, as American Idol continues to pull in monster ratings, even in its 7th season. And I can also understand why Idol producers would want to clear the air with Kelly. Like it or not, Idol made her a superstar. I think the show’s producers have learned their lesson since their conflict with Kelly- more recent winners and contestants such as Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry and David Cook have all fallen in line with Idol and if they do have any negative thought about their time on the show, they’ve learned to keep them quiet.

Here’s Kelly in New York City on March 12th. Images thanks to INF News and Features.

Kelly Clarkson apparently has a competition going with Jessica Simpson. They’re each trying to take the crown for “Biggest Over-Sharing Celebrity.” And frankly, that’s not a title a lot of people want. Jessica is known for telling audiences all about her flatulence and splitting pants. And just about every other thing you’d never want to know about. But so far, she’s drawn the line at pee. And I respect her for it. But Kelly Clarkson just threw herself headfirst across that line, by telling Blender magazine that she pees in the shower. Thanks.

Here’s an interesting little fact about Kelly Clarkson for all you trivia fans out there: she’s a bit gross. In a new interview, the American Idol winner admits to both peeing in the shower and checking the tissue to see what color her snot is!

When Blender magazine quizzed Kelly on whether she feels that washing and urinating are best done separately, she told them: “Anybody who says they don’t [pee in the shower] is lying.”

And on the sticky subject of boogers she muses, “I mean, if you have a cold, you have to check, to see how sick you are.”

Call us old fashioned, but aren’t these the kind of things we’d rather not know about stars? You wouldn’t see Marilyn Monroe admitting to that stuff.

But according to Kelly, the oversharing is all part of her special charm.

“It’s not like people look at me as unattainable, some kind of star like that,” she told the April issue of the magazine. “People love the ‘real’ factor that’s involved, I think.”

[From OK!]

Okay, I will grant Kelly that people don’t look at her as unattainable. She definitely strikes me as one of the celebrities I could definitely hang out with and have as a real friend. She’s accessible and real, and that’s good. But you can still have class. And it doesn’t even need to be 100% class… just like 80%. Just not talking about what you do in the shower that you should do on the toilet. Really, that’s all I ask. I will give her the mucus talk if she absolutely has to have it.

Celebitchy and I had a whole debate over just how gross it is that Kelly pees in the shower. I pointed out that pee is sterile and you can drink it, which she swears is untrue. And the internet was no help, since there are a lot of arguments either way. And Kelly has yet to say she does anything other than go in the shower, so compared to some of the stuff I just learned that people do with their urine (thanks Google), I guess that’s relatively benign.

The funny thing is, I had a really hard time writing this article without oversharing myself. Once someone starts talking bathroom stuff, it’s hard not to chime in with your own gross things or tales of woe. That’s why Kelly’s got to keep it classy. Once the cat’s out of the bag, everyone’s going to join in, and pretty soon we’ll know all about Brad Pitt and Clive Owen’s hygiene issues too.

Here’s Kelly Clarkson leaving Koko in Camden, England after performing for the shockwaves chart show on February 24th. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.

Kelly Clarkson is not sure about kids. Having them, that is. She’s okay with kids in general. The singer claims that she “would not be a good mother” and that her job is “too selfish”. I applaud Kelly’s honesty. She also says that she recently went to see He’s Just Not That Into You, and walked out of the theatre happy she was single. US Magazine (via Gossip Rocks) has more:

Don’t expect to see Kelly Clarkson with a baby bump any time soon.

“Oh, my God, I have no desire,” the American Idol winner, 26, tells USA Today. “I would not be a good mother.”

“I mean, I love being an aunt to my niece and nephew,” she continues. “And I used to want to, like, adopt 10 kids — because I had friends who were adopted, and I thought that was the coolest thing, to be chosen. But…my job is too selfish.”

Clarkson (whose next album, All I Ever Wanted) is currently single — and happy about it.

“I went to see He’s Just Not That Into You the other night, and honestly, you walk away from that movie feeling so glad that you’re single,” she says.

“I went with friends who are my backup singers on the road, and have their own group, and we were like, where do we even meet people when you’re working so much?” she goes on. “I mean, we travel with a bunch of married men! And I love working; I can’t see myself not doing this.”

Although if she met the right person, she would consider saying “I Do.” (A change of heart since a 2007 Elle interview in which she proclaimed she’s “not keen on marriage.”)

“I’m not against it. If I found a guy who could handle my job, that would be cool,” she says. “But I’ve dated a couple of guys who were awesome, and the celebrity part of my life and the traveling part are hard to get around.”

“You never get to see each other, especially if you’re both musicians,” adds Clarkson, who once dated singer/songwriter — and touring partner– Graham Colton. Clarkson also tells the newspaper she hasn’t let fame change her.

“It would be easy for me to go, ‘Whatever, I’ll be a fembot.’ But I have a big fear of change, or negative change, anyway,” she says. “I’m basically the same person I was when I won Idol, or when I was 10.”

“Maybe it sounds cheesy, but in a world that is not normal, my goal is to continue doing what I love and feeling good about it. That’s it.”

From US Magazine (via Gossip Rocks)

I think it’s perfectly normal for a young woman who is still in the first flush of a career to be ambivalent about settling down. It seems that too often young women in the spotlight feel they have to pay lip-service to this idea that all they really want to do is settle down and have babies. I’m not mocking the whole settling down thing, it just seems like some celebrities are just saying it to appease what they think their fanbase wants to hear.

Kelly Clarkson seems really happy with her career, and she’s worked hard for it. She should enjoy it. In a few years, she’ll most likely feel differently about the babies.

Kelly Clarkson is shown at the Woman’s World Awards on 3/5/09. Credit: WENN.com

It appears that the year-long battle of creative differences between legendary producer Clive Davis and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is diffusing. Clarkson, who has been quite vocal over her disagreement with Davis regarding her album, “My December,” has been added to the bill of select performers for Davis’ prestigious pre-Grammy bash.

Kelly Clarkson had a bad year last year, you may recall. Her album, called “My December,” was a dud. But before it was released, she wound up in an unfortunate war of words with legendary J Records label chief Clive Davis, who’s also the head of BMG North America.

But time heals all wounds. The magnanimous Davis has held out a very key olive branch to Clarkson by including her photo among just a few select acts in the glittery invite to his annual pre-Grammy dinner gala.

The swanky black and gold square-shaped invitation has four pages of past dinner performers. The book opens with Alicia Keys, and continues with such Davis stalwarts as Whitney Houston, Rod Stewart, Annie Lennox, Barry Manilow, Fantasia and Jennifer Hudson.

But it’s the fourth page that’s most interesting. Diana Ross in the upper left hand corner. Rob Thomas and Carlos Santana are next to her. Below that pair is Clarkson, by herself. And to Clarkson’s left is the duo of Usher and Kanye West.

[From Fox News]

Sharing the same bill with Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston and Diana Ross is a sign of being accepted back into the fold? No wonder the music industry is in trouble.

Davis reportedly held the release of Clarkson’s album because he felt that that the material, which she wrote herself following a bad breakup and some bad experiences during her “Breakaway” tour, was too dark and not pop enough. Clarkson shot back with the infamous reply, “You don’t have to like my album. You’re 80– you’re not supposed to like my album.” Some felt that Clarkson was shunned by Davis during his appearance on the finale show of American Idol season 6, when he proceeded to promote other Idol contestant’s current singles or albums, but failed to mention Clarkson’s album, or its first single, “Never Again.”

While “My December” didn’t live up to the expectations set by her previous album, it wasn’t exactly a flop, either. The album received mixed reviews and debuted at #2 in the U.S., with sales of approximately 291,000 copies – a mere 6,000 copies less than Clarkson’s debut hit “Thankful” sold in its first week. It came behind “Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus,” which sold about 326,000 copies that week.

Hopefully, Davis and Clarkson can renew their relationship and get back to making music. Kelly deserves kudos for standing her ground — even at the risk of selling fewer albums and canceling a few tour dates. Clive’s label has supported Alicia Keys in her quest to take more creative control, so why should Kelly be penalized for trying to do the same thing?

The drama between Kelly Clarkson and RCA head Clive Davis will not settle down. The two got into a pretty public feud (well Clarkson said a lot of stuff that Davis said and no one denied it) about the quality of Kelly’s most recent album “My December.” Kelly stood her ground, and the reviews have been mixed at best, with many critics siding with Davis. Kelly revealed to Blender exactly what she said to legendary Clive Davis.

It was nice,” Clarkson told Blender of a “face-to-face” Beverly Hills Hotel meeting she and Davis had to discuss his “My December” issues. “It was just the two of us, and his dog. I was like, ‘I don’t know you very well, and I am not a bulls**tter. I get you don’t like the album. You’re 80; you’re not supposed to like my album.’ I said, ‘Clive, I’m going to make tons of albums. It doesn’t have to be mainstream every time.’”

[From Reality TV World]

Well it turns out that wasn’t really a smart thing to do for a lot of reasons. Clive Davis is a pretty powerful guy. And he’s her boss. So there’s two good ones right there. But more importantly, he’s been in the business forever, and he’s stayed relevant. In some way, shape, or form, he’s responsible for about half of what you hear on the radio. And it turns out he has a pretty good ear, since the record hasn’t been selling well compared to her old albums. Blender noted, “Clarkson has never sounded this depressive or spiteful.”

Simon Cowell decided to chime in and tell Kelly to STFU. Don’t worry, he’s got an accent so it sounds prettier when he says it. But it’s Simon Cowell so it actually sounds mean no matter what.

They just need to kiss and make up…Clive Davis at 80 is better than 99 percent of the people in the music business in their 20s, 30s and 40s…and he’s not 80….(Davis) is the boss of the record company, and it’s his job to advise.’”

[From Reality TV World]

I really like Kelly Clarkson, though I don’t care for any of her music. I like that she’s spunky and doesn’t follow the wasteland mentality that most celebrities her age seem to indulge in. I can really see where she’s coming from, and especially why she wouldn’t want to do something so mainstream after the last two albums. But on the other hand, Clive Davis is… Clive Davis. He’s legendary, and he knows what he’s doing. And he is her boss. If nothing else, if I were Kelly I would have kept quiet about it and not blabbed about it in every single interview. Either way, there are many measures of success. This album definitely isn’t selling like her last ones, and it probably isn’t going to produce the chart-dominating singles of her previous efforts. However it does seem to have more of an honesty to it, and there’s certainly something to be said for sticking to your guns, especially on something so personal.