Kim Kardashian Accused of Photoshopping Bikini Beach Photos From Island Getaway

Fans are leveling new criticism at the infamous photos from Kim Kardashian's island getaway for her 40th birthday, believing that she Photoshopped at least one picture. The image shows Kardashian standing side-by-side with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney on an idyllic beach under a palm tree, with an arm outstretched to each of them. However, Kim's right arm mysteriously disappears behind Khloe's.

In the picture, Kim has one arm propped on Kourtney's shoulder and the other reaching out as if to rest on Khloe's back. Fans noted that the arm did not appear in the gap between Khloe's arm and her torso, meaning that either Kim's forearm is perfectly hidden behind Khloe's shoulder, or it was edited out. Some speculated that it was edited out to compliment Khloe's waist, though Kim's defenders argued that she would not go to that much trouble for such a little reward.

where’s the rest of your arm kim pic.twitter.com/oCtk9oWTCz

— s (@SIXTHIRTYGRNDE) October 28, 2020

"Who needs an arm when you have a nice waist?" one commenter joked. Another wrote: "I love how your arm disappears behind Khloe," while a third person added: "I thought I was the only one who noticed!"
So far, Kim has not responded to the criticism, simply captioning the photo: "Girls just wanna have sun." She has also stayed silent on more general criticisms of the trip, where she took her "closest inner circle" of friends and family to Tahiti for a mask-free vacation, in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.

"For my birthday this year, I couldn't think of a better way to spend it than with some of the people who have helped [shape] me into the woman I am today," she wrote. "Before COVID, I don't think any of us truly appreciated what a simple luxury it was to be able to travel and be together with family and friends in a safe environment."

In a now-infamous series of tweets, Kardashian explained that she took her friends to "a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time." Each tweet included pictures of the lavish celebrations, with no masks or social distancing in sight. The post spawned a viral meme that briefly took over Twitter, with fans adding Kardashian's caption to far more dire pictures.

Critics called Kardashian's posts insensitive, not only to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have lost loved ones to COVID-19, but to those who have been impacted by one of the worst economic recessions in the country's history. Her story of organizing a whimsical weekend at unimaginable cost was hard to relate to — even by her lofty standards.