Justin Bieber’s Calvin Klein underwear and jeans ad campaign is the real deal.
So real, in fact, that the singer’s legal team fired off a cease and desist letter to the website Breathe Heavy , after the site claimed Biebs’ underwear print ad shots were photoshopped and posted a GIF alleging it was an “unretouched” image of the 20-year-old from his photo shoot.
The GIF alternated between two images, which the site claimed was a “before Photoshop skinny, small Justin” and an “after Photoshop buff, well-hung Justin.”
According to TMZ , the lawyers also threatened to sue Breathe Heavy for defamation. They demanded the site take down the GIF and retract their photoshopping allegations . Justin’s team claimed the so-called “unretouched” picture was fake.
On Friday, January 9, a few hours after receiving the legal letter, Breathe Heavy retracted their previous claim that Bieber’s Calvin Klein ad shots were photoshopped. They removed the GIF from their site and also issued a snarky apology to the singer.
The retraction statement on breatheheavy.com reads:
“Team Bieber sent BreatheHeavy a cease and desist letter because of the alleged un-retouched Calvin Klein photo we posted, asking we remove the picture in question as well as provide a retraction.”
“Bieber denies the photo is real, and I respect that and will believe him.”
The site added: “We sincerely apologize to Bieber for the hit to his ego and to the millions of tweens on social media we upset…”
As MTV noted, a professional photo retoucher previously informed them the “unretouched” snap was not the “raw image” from Bieber’s Calvin Klein ad shoot. In addition, even before the retraction was made public, the GIF was ridiculed as “fake as hell” over at Jezebel .
An explanatory video was sent to the Inquisitr on Monday. In it, Garth Williams, who claims he is a “high-end retoucher,” demonstrates a basic replication of how the smaller image of Bieber was photoshopped from a copy of the original ad shot.
Check out the video below.
And there was more. Following claims that Justin’s sizeable bulge in the Calvin Klein’s ads is artificial, his personal trainer, Patrick Nilsson, spoke to Access Hollywood , saying, “I can definitely confirm that he is a well-endowed guy. I sound weird saying that, but yes.”
Meanwhile, Calvin Klein stepped up in defense of their newest poster boy’s on-set conduct during the photo shoot, after Breathe Heavy claimed a source alleged the Canadian acted unprofessionally with his co-star, model Lara Stone.
Melisa Goldie, Chief Marketing Officer at the brand told Us Weekly that, “Justin showed up early every day with amazing energy; he completely trusted us and gave it his all.”
Like many , the Inquisitr found the Bieber-Stone ad visuals stylishly sexy and cool. Goldie went further and says Calvin Klein “are incredibly proud of the final images and how they portray Justin and Lara. This campaign will definitely make history.”
It remains to be seen whether a click bait motivated, photoshop that shouldn’t have fooled anyone has the last word on the brouhaha.
[Images via Calvin Klein]