Ashley Benson calls out excessive photo-shopping

And it’s pretty empowering…

From the editors of InStyle Words by Olivia Bahou

Pretty Little Liars has aired its final episode, but Ashley Benson is still airing some grievances with the show’s excessive use of photoshop. The actress, who played Hanna Marin on the seven-year series, is calling out PLL for how much they retouched promotional posters.

‘PLL had put up this poster and it was from our first season and it was completely crazy. Nobody looked like themselves,’ Benson told Stylecaster.

‘Even for magazine covers, they’ll photoshop out a mole, make your boobs bigger or your waist four sizes smaller, and you’re like, “That’s not even me,”’ Benson said. ‘You never know how it’s going to turn out because you have no control and you’re not editing the photos, but it sucks when you’re like, “Wow. That’s a completely different person.”’

After years of having her images photoshopped on Pretty Little Liars, Benson now asks that her pictures not be retouched, save for small touch-ups. ‘I always make sure to tell people, with any s— that I do or anyone else does, that unless it’s announced that it’s not photoshopped, it’s photoshopped,’ she said. ‘And don’t get down on yourself for not looking a certain way because it takes a lot of hair and makeup, a ton of good lighting, and after the shoot, it’s all this editing.’

The actress, who has spoken out about body shaming before, explaining that she was told she was ‘too fat’ for a role as a size 2, says Hollywood still has more progress to make. ‘I hate that people still make those comments,’ Benson said. ‘I don’t think it should matter, the pressure of being a size 0, because everyone is talented. Everyone deserves a chance and the weight thing is too much pressure to put on anyone.’

Preach, Ash.