Last week, Khloé Kardashian became the subject of intense controversy after a photo of her in a bikini found its way online without her approval.
The photo — which was apparently taken at Kris Jenner's Palm Springs home and uploaded to social media accidentally — shows Khloé unposed and unedited.
However, within hours of the image circulating on Twitter and Reddit, the Kardashians began making threats of legal action to prevent it spreading further.
"The color edited photo was taken of Khloé during a private family gathering and posted to social media without permission by mistake by an assistant,” Tracy Romulus, chief marketing officer for KKW Brands, told Page Six last week. "Khloé looks beautiful but it is within the right of the copyright owner to not want an image not intended to be published taken down."
A day after the photo's leak, Khloé took to Instagram to share a series of photos and live videos of herself in various states of undress to prove how her body looks "without photoshop."
"This is me and my body unretouched and unfiltered," she wrote alongside the images. "The photo that was posted this week was beautiful. But as someone who has struggled with body image her whole life, when someone takes a photo of you that isn’t flattering in bad lighting or doesn’t capture your body the way it is after working so hard to get to this point — and then shares it to the world — you should have every right to ask for it not to be shared, regardless of who you are."
"In truth, the pressure, constant ridicule and judgement my entire life to be perfect and to meet other's standards of how I should look has been too much to bear," she continued.
"For over a decade now in photos, every single flaw and imperfection has been micro-analyzed and made fun to the smallest detail and I am reminded of them everyday by the world," Khloé continued. "And when I take that criticism to use as motivation to get myself in the best shape of my life … I am told I couldn't have done it through hard work and must have paid for it all."
"It's almost unbearable trying to live up to the impossible standards that the public have all set for me," she added. "You never quite get used to being judged and pulled apart and told how unattractive one is."
"But I will say, if you hear anything enough then you start to believe it," she signed off the post. "This is an example of how I have been conditioned to feel, that I am not beautiful enough just being me."