GOSSIP & ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Lil Kim is claiming that a heralded publication tried to “sabotage” her with the release of a cover image that she (and her fans) say is unrecognizable. “Who is this? Cuz that’s not the photo I approved or any other content they’ve put out,” wrote the Queen Bee on her InstaStory.

Source: Keith Major @KeithMajor / EBONY Magazine

Unfortunately for her, the art director behind the image is alleging that the AI-adjacent picture was actually her doing, and now a “he said, she said” debate is raging on.

On Tuesday, EBONY Magazine released a series of covers celebrating 50 years of Hip-Hop.

The covers included 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Swizz Beatz, and Lil Kim.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by EBONY (@ebonymagazine)

And while the other aforementioned male rappers had no issue with the final look of their covers, the legendary femcee and her fans cried foul over her heavily-edited photo.

Lil Kim is real life beautiful dont play with her pic.twitter.com/GUot5T03rF

— Ms. White (@lilkimvsp) September 19, 2023

this is WAAY better than what we got. pic.twitter.com/WpvI4WN4KA

— ⧉ (@NASTlESTONE) September 19, 2023

At one point the criticism for the heavily airbrushed photo grew so loud that Keith Major, the now former photography director at EBONY, openly said that Lil Kim took creative control over the pic.

“Man, she wanted to be in control of the retouching so this is what we got,” wrote Major in an Instagram comments section.

The photographer behind Lil’ Kim’s recent ‘Ebony’ cover reveals that she was in charge of retouching the images

DETAILS: https://t.co/KBRwz70oXg pic.twitter.com/Nh9LlPpIlX

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) September 19, 2023

According to the Hardcore rapper, however, that’s untrue and she’s got the receipts to prove it.

“I always told Ebony it looked like a painting but they didn’t wanna listen,” wrote Kim on her InstaStory. “They said they love it. It’s the sabotage for me. The funny s### about this, is that this is THEIR retoucher!” she added taking a clear shot at Keith Major’s retouching claims.

Lil Kim speaks out about her Ebony Magazine cover and says that she did not approve the image or any of the other content that was released. (📸: @ebonymagazine, @gettyimages) ✍🏾: #TSRStaffJW https://t.co/Xryhc2PPem pic.twitter.com/KWfea24Hn1

— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) September 20, 2023

She then went on to show what her approved image looked like—-but according to fans, it’s incredibly hard to see the difference.

Lil’ Kim on set of her Ebony Magazine photoshoot.pic.twitter.com/MNU6YkmxjT

— Lil’ Kim Media (@LilKimMedia) September 19, 2023

Hit the flip to see Lil Kim’s EBONY Magazine receipts.