House Minority Leader and New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries came under fire after posting a photo to Instagram that appears to show heavy signs of digital manipulation around his waist and thighs, a mistake commonly made by A-list celebs.
In the image, posted on July 7 and set to Lil’ Kim’s “Lighters Up,” Jeffries leans against a bench while wearing a silver chain and cross, white shirt, black pants, and white sneakers. But it wasn’t the outfit that caught people’s attention. The horizontal slats of the bench behind Jeffries appear to warp dramatically near his midsection and upper thighs, then straighten out toward his feet —a telltale sign of digital warping often used to slim or reshape a body part.
The post, captioned simply “Brooklyn” and “Home Sweet Home,” drew ridicule from followers and critics alike. One user commented, “Your photoshop skills far exceed your leadership skills,” while another wrote, “The best time to delete this was immediately. The second best time is now.”
As of July 9, Jeffries had not publicly addressed the backlash.
Photo editing artifacts, such as the ones seen in Jeffries’ post, particularly curved lines near the edges of a body, have become a familiar giveaway in the era of digital self-styling.
Accusations of body editing have long dogged the Kardashian-Jenner family, whose brands and appearances have become cultural cornerstones of contemporary beauty trends. In one example, Kim Kardashian was accused of editing her waist in a 2021 SKIMS shapewear campaign video. Observers pointed out that a finger appeared to warp unnaturally as it traced the curve of her waist, an effect a SKIMS spokesman later claimed was a “glitch” due to poor video quality, according to Yahoo! Life.
Kenzie Brenna, a body positivity influencer who reposted the clip to her Instagram, called the edit “really disappointing,” adding, “When someone of that magnitude is altering their body in certain ways…if this is the standard that we’re still trying to hit, we can’t ever do it. It’s not even about dieting. It’s about digitally altering your body…in ways that dieting and plastic surgery can’t even do for you.”
Kardashian and her sisters have long faced scrutiny for seemingly altered photos. In one 2019 Instagram post, Kylie Jenner was pictured sitting on a couch next to a friend, and the striped pillow behind her appears warped in the exact area aligning with her waist and rear, a warping pattern commonly associated with digital slimming or expansion of certain areas.
A similar wave-like distortion is visible in a 2018 photo of Kim Kardashian walking to her car in a parking lot. In the image, a slight bend in the asphalt and a warped, unrecognizable black vehicle in the background suggest an edit was made to her silhouette on the left side of the frame. Kardashian reportedly said the photo was sent to her by a fan who added a mirror effect to the image.
The Dallas Express reached out to Jeffries’ office for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.