Reese Witherspoon's ‘unrecognisable' InStyle cover shoot slammed

A magazine cover of Reese Witherspoon has gone viral after fans called it out for leaving the Hollywood star 'unrecognisable'.

The InStyle magazine cover shot, taken by Australian photographer Emma Summerton, saw people flood social media suggesting that the 45-year-old Legally Blonde star did not look like herself as a result of the magazine’s editing.

Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon's latest magazine has been called out online. Photo: Getty

"Did she approve this edit? This does not look like her,” one person wrote in the comments under InStyle’s Instagram post of the cover.

“Unrecognisable. What did you do to this gorgeous woman?” another said.

“Stop with the ridiculous Photoshopping. It doesn’t even look like Reese,” was another reaction.

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Others said the allegedly edited photo of Reese was “harmful” on the basis that it “sends the wrong message”.

“Honestly, it’s painful to see. She’s gorgeous in real life. Leave her face alone,” one person added.

InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown defended the magazine’s cover shoot, taking to the comments herself to defend the image.

"Hey team, for those commenting on retouching, the brief was super sexy, a heavy eye and big hair. You rarely see Reese like this - which was the point," she wrote.

"We are not in the business of embalming women at @InStylemagazine."

The magazine’s editor then encouraged people to "feel free to look at Reese’s in-human-form video post, following. All the best, L."

However, people still disagreed with the claim that the actor’s appearance on the cover was solely due to her makeup and hair.

"Oh come on. You’ve made her face rounder, she literally looks like her daughter on your cover. You’ve tried to make her look 20 years younger, and telling your followers it’s the makeup/hair/clothes is just insulting their intelligence," one person commented in response.

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