A particular photo of Caroline Leavitt disappeared from AFP records after White House staff pointed out that she appeared to have a double chin in the low-angle photo, a report has claimed.
A turkey and a smiling Carolyn Levitt, holding her son. It’s a simple photo but is now going viral on social media with the claim that the White House Press Secretary didn’t like the strangely angled photo and contacted the agency that took the photo. The New Republic reported that the photo had also been removed from the archives of Agence France-Presse and the Getty archives. “The photo, taken at a very low angle by Agence France-Presse photographer Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, points to Levitt, who is smiling in such a way that her double chin is visible, while she holds her son, ‘Waddle’, a turkey they were looking down on, is also featured very prominently in the frame,” the New Republic reported. That the “double chin” in the photo was the problem. But the agency denied that any formal request was made to remove the image, although it said it was made aware that the White House did not like the photo. “Although we were told that White House staff found the photo distasteful, we want to clarify that there was no formal request to remove it, nor was there any external pressure involved,” AFP brand and communications director Grégoire Lemarchand told The Daily Beast.
Who is taking unflattering photos of White House officials?
Caroline Levitt’s case is not the first. The Washington Post recently reported that press photographers were barred from taking pictures inside the Pentagon press briefing room after multiple outlets published “unpleasant” photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. On March 2, Hegseth held a press conference with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to brief the press about the US and Israeli military strikes on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February. After the press conference, wire services sent photos of Hegseth but Hegseth’s staff reportedly discussed that they did not like the way Hegseth looked. Pentagon spokesman Kingsley Wilson said in a statement that to use the briefing room “effectively”, only one representative per non-credentialed news outlet was allowed inside. Wilson wrote, “Photos of the briefing are immediately released online for public and press use. If this harms the business model of some news outlets, they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”