British model Jodie Kidd has defended Khloe Kardashian over her Photoshop controversy but admits ‘misleading images are dangerous.’
The former catwalk star says Khloe, 36, should be forgiven for attempting to remove an unfiltered bikini picture of herself from social media as the US reality favourite has been born into a culture obsessed with having the ‘perfect look’ in Los Angeles.
Jodie, who’s a mum to son Indio, nine, told MailOnline she’s ‘concerned’ edited pictures and Instagram filters may have a huge impact on younger generations, as she urges social media giants to ‘get a real grip’ on the growing problem.
‘That’s always been an LA thing’: British model Jodie Kidd has defended Khloe Kardashian over her Photoshop controversy but admits ‘misleading images are dangerous’
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Jodie, 42, said: ‘That’s always been an LA thing.
‘Everyone’s got to look perfect, with the perfect teeth and the perfect hair. It’s been like that way before the Kardashians.
‘It’s just the mindset of someone who lives in Los Angeles. For me as a model who travelled round the world in the nineties that was one thing that really put me off Los Angeles. If you’ve been brought up there, that’s the norm.’
Khloe tried to delete the unfiltered picture, which showed her body in its natural form, last week but her desperate attempts resulted in the snap going viral instead.
‘That’s the norm’: Jodie says Khloe should be forgiven for trying to remove an unfiltered picture of herself from social media as she’s been born into a culture obsessed with being ‘perfect’
‘Perfect teeth and the perfect hair’: Jodie, who rose to fame in the nineties, said she was ‘put off’ living in Los Angeles as the expectation was you needed to ‘look perfect’ (pictured in 2002)
Despite receiving criticism for her efforts, notably from Piers Morgan who branded her ‘tragic’, the eldest Kardashian sister insists she will carry on editing her pictures for social media, saying she had the right to ‘present myself to the world the way I want to be seen.’
While she’s defended Khloe’s actions, Jodie says tech giants such as Instagram and Facebook should do more to eliminate heavily airbrushed pictures online.
Pub landlady Jodie, who is starting a tipping movement with the Stella Tips campaign with Stella Artois which will see £1 given to bar staff tips for every pint of Stella Artois served for one month across the UK, said: ‘I think changing your body shape in pictures is very negative and if you are at a point where you are having to change yourself skinny then that’s a very worrying image to portray – and it is something you are not.
‘As a parent of a nine-year-old, I would say I’m very concerned about misleading images that can have very serious damage on young minds.
‘Very worrying’: Despite defending Khloe’s actions, Jodie says tech giants such as Instagram and Facebook should do more to eliminate heavily airbrushed pictures online
‘It’s getting very difficult to know if somebody has changed their boobs to be a little bigger or their bum.
‘It’s a hard thing to control, but I do think it’s something that’s very serious and the big social companies out there have to get a real grip on it.’
In recent years Jodie has swapped the catwalk for the boozer after becoming the owner and proprietor of the Half Moon pub in Kirkford, West Sussex.
She’s had huge concerns over the pub’s future following its closure doing lockdown and is hoping the hospitality industry will see a boom in trade now doors have reopened, albeit only serving outdoors for the time being.
Good cause: Jodie is starting a tipping movement with Stella Artois which will see £1 given to bar staff tips for every pint of Stella served for one month across the UK
Jodie explained: ‘It’s been such a struggle over the past year.
‘To get our chefs and full front of house back and everything up and running to full capacity is very nerve wracking because we have to make money. If we lose money, oh god. We just can’t afford it.’
Jodie is hoping her loyal bar staff, many of whom are youngsters in their late teens and early twenties, will have their income boosted by the Stella Tips campaign.
She added: ‘Normally it’s always about helping the pub or the industry, whereas what Stella is doing is helping the people who make the pub what it is, the team members. It’s a brilliant thing and I’m all for it.’
- For more information on Stella Artois’ Stella Tips campaign visit their website