Less than a week after Cindy Crawford's untouched image emerged online, the same thing has now happened to another celebrity.

Social media was in a frenzy when unedited pictures of Beyonce aka Queen B surfaced on the internet on one of her many, many fansites, The Beyonce World. Some fans thought these pictures were actually edited and a conspiracy to defame her, some haters thought it proved she's hideous without the tool of Photoshop. I think all it reinforced is that she, too, is human.

In fact, because of the cruel backlash, the website took down the pictures within an hour, releasing the following statement:

"Due to the disdain of the BeyHive, we have removed the photos. We don't want to cause any drama, nor do we wish to start fan wars. Some of the things we have seen posted were just horrible, and we don't want any parts of it. We were just posting the photos to share the fact that our queen is naturally beautiful, at the same time she is just a regular woman."

However, since this is the internet, the damage has already been done and numerous websites grabbed the images before that.

Admittedly, the photographs are not the most flattering. She's caked in make-up and under heavy lighting and if anyone should bear the brunt of this, it's the make-up artist. Ever heard of using primer before slathering on foundation?

It's strange that such outrage was displayed over these images from commercials and advertisements for L'Oreal from 2013. We constantly speak out about how celebrities Photoshop their pictures too much and when we see the photographs that they don't edit, we tear apart those too. Are we really going to sit on our pedestals and bash her for having blemishes and facial hair? Are we really saying, "We're so upset that Beyonce has pores!"?

I can't say I'm shocked though. Women in the industry constantly come under the cross-fire for their appearances. Similar furor was also expressed recently when Renée Zellweger stepped onto the red carpet looking different or when Uma Thurman decided to skip mascara and was accused of getting plastic surgery. We expect them to live up to our unrealistic expectations of beauty and when they do with a little help from Photoshop or the scalpel, we lash out.

As a society, we have trouble coming to terms with famous women being anything less than perfect and even with them aging. When you're joyful, you get laugh lines, when you age, you get wrinkles and when you eat too many chocolates, you do get a blemish or two. it's time to cut these celebrities some slack.

P.S: How on point is Beyonce's eyebrow game?

Opinion

Editorial

Words that wound
18 Jun, 2026

Words that wound

LONG before a church is burned, a mosque vandalised or a mob assembled, the poison that enables such violence has...
‘New urban province’
18 Jun, 2026

‘New urban province’

CONSIDERING the advance state of urban decay that affects Karachi, voices are often raised calling for the megacity,...
Punjab budget: mixed bag
18 Jun, 2026

Punjab budget: mixed bag

PUNJAB’S budget for FY27 is a mix of good and bad political choices, with a cash-strapped centre tightening the...
Spoiler alert
17 Jun, 2026

Spoiler alert

AFTER the temporary peace deal between the US and Iran is physically signed in Geneva on Friday, an arduous process...
Storm-tested cities
17 Jun, 2026

Storm-tested cities

THE deaths caused by the latest spell of monsoon rains in KP and Punjab illustrate how quickly severe weather can...
Chakwal tragedy
17 Jun, 2026

Chakwal tragedy

A NINE-year-old girl is dead because a Punjab Crime Control Department gunman mistook her family’s car for a...