Singer Kelly Clarkson says she's perfectly happy about her fluctuating weight. So why did Self magazine, in which she made the remarks, retouch its cover photo of the “American Idol” champ to make her look much thinner than she is in real life? “Only to make her look her personal best,” says Self editor Lucy Danziger, adding that retouching is standard practice in the glossy magazine business. Danziger's admission in a blog this week on Self.com has touched off a furor only a few months after singer Jessica Simpson made celebrity news headlines when she was pictured looking heavy in an unflattering pair of high-waisted jeans. Clarkson's case is ironic because the singer talks about her weight in Self's September issue, which is called the “Total Body Confidence Issue,” yet the magazine radically altered her appearance on its cover. “My happy weight changes. Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more. I'll be different sizes all the time. When people talk about my weight, I'm like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don't. I'm fine!' “I've never felt uncomfortable on the red carpet or anything,” Clarkson, 27, told Self. It's not the first time that Clarkson, a Grammy winner who has sold more than 20 million albums since winning “American Idol” in 2002, has been slimmed down for promotional reasons. In January, she wrote on her blog “they have definitely photo-shopped the crap out of me” on the cover of her latest album “All I Ever Wanted.”
