AFP, Getty Images Removed ‘Unflattering’ Photo of Karoline Leavitt After White House Was Reportedly Displeased

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

AFP and Getty Images removed an unflattering photo of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt from their image libraries after being made aware that the White House was unhappy.

According to Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter, the photo – taken by AFP photographer Andrew Caballero-Reynolds and depicting Leavitt with her son next to a turkey at the White House on Thanksgiving – was removed after AFP was made aware that the White House was displeased with the image.

After being removed from AFP’s library, it was then automatically removed from Getty Images, effectively wiping the photo from existence.

AFP Director of Communications Gregoire Lemarchand confirmed in a statement that the photo was removed after the agency was “made aware” of the White House’s displeasure.

Lemarchand insisted, however, that the decision to remove the photo was “an internal editorial one, based on our standard quality and selection criteria,” and not the result of pressure from the White House.

“While we were made aware that White House staff found the photo unflattering, we want to be clear that there was no formal request to remove it, nor was there any external pressure involved,” Lemarchand told Status.

He added, “During high-volume events like White House briefings, our desk often receives a large influx of photos directly from the photographer’s camera, which are moved quickly by the editor on duty to ensure timely delivery… Upon a subsequent review of the day’s production, our editor-in-chief determined that this specific image did not meet our editorial standards. The angle was poor and, more importantly, we already had a selection of superior images from the same event available on the wire.”

Ironically, after news of the photo’s removal was reported on Tuesday, the image went viral on social media, where it received thousands of likes and shares.

As of reporting, the photo is also still featured in an article published by the Swiss German-language newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

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