Kim Kardashian accused of photoshopping shoulder muscle in Instagram post

‘The fact that I would never have noticed but it’s painfully obvious after the fact’

Kim Kardashian has once again been accused of photoshopping one of her social media posts, this time in an unusual spot.

The 41-year-old reality star and the rest of her famous family have often been exposed for editing their pictures, whether it’s trimming their legs, waistlines, or even photoshopping their children. Now, it seems the SKIMS founder has edited her appearance once again.

In a viral TikTok posted earlier this week, user @caroline_in_thecity accused Kardashian of photoshopping her trapezius muscle around her neck and shoulders. In the clip, which has more than 6.5 million views, Caroline reverse-photoshopped the muscle to reveal how the original picture would have looked.

“Kim K is notorious for photoshopping out her traps. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it makes her neck look smaller but this area right here has been photoshopped out,” she began the TikTok.

Caroline, who is a commercial photographer, zoomed in to the post and pointed out that the water pattern behind Kardashian’s neck was warped, suggesting that the photos had been edited. Using the liquify tool in Photoshop, she adjusted the image to reveal how it would look unedited.

“As you can see, the water reflection in the background starts to look a lot more natural as well. We don’t have that warped effect,” she said as she edited the image. “This area looks a lot more natural.”

In Kardashian’s Instagram post, the reality star also included an unedited video from the photoshoot, which Caroline screenshotted and used as a side-by-side comparison of the photoshopped image. “We also have a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot to compare as well,” she said, showing the before and after shots of the edited post. “There’s the before for reference, and here’s a screenshot from behind-the-scenes video where you can see her neck and trapezius.”

Since it was posted on 28 August, the viral TikTok has received thousands of comments from viewers who were shocked, but not surprised by the photoshop faux pas.

“This is actually so not okay,” one person wrote. “You would think that now that they have daughters they would think about the impact of this more.”

“The fact that I would never have noticed but it’s painfully obvious after the fact,” said someone else.

“I don’t understand why they do it, the non edited original is so much better looking,” another user commented.

For one person, their issue was not that the Kardashians edit their photos, but the “fact they deny it/avoid talking about it”. Another user said: “I swear the Kardashians’ Instagrams are why I have body image issues.”

The Kardashian-Jenner family have been exposed many times over the years for their alleged photoshop fails. Earlier this year, Kim deleted a bikini picture from her Instagram page after fans pointed out her right leg appeared significantly smaller than her left leg. The star also faced backlash when fans noticed her “third hand” in a snakeskin-inspired photoshoot.

In April, Kim Kardashian admitted to photoshopping certain posts for the first time. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum addressed speculation that she had edited her then-boyfriend Pete Davidson’s jawline, and took to her Instagram to shut down the photoshop rumours.

“I guess Pete’s jawline is snatched!!! Snatched to the point u guys thought I photoshopped it!!!” she wrote on her Instagram story, denying that she edited his profile to appear sharper.

However, Kardashian did confirm fan theories that she photoshopped pictures of her daughter, Chicago West, and Khloe Kardashian’s daughter, True Thompson, which were taken at Disneyland theme park.

“Ugh this one needs explaining…” she wrote over the edited picture of Chicago and True. Kardashian explained that the original image featured Kylie Jenner’s daughter Stormi, but she refrained from posting the image because Jenner asked her not to. Although, the social media star added that she wasn’t going to let a cropped photo “mess up my IG feed.”

“You know how much a good aesthetic means to my soul,” Kardashian said. “And I will be damned if Kylie will ruin that for me and mess up my IG grid. So thank you True for taking one for the team!”