Former supermodel Cindy Crawford, whose 'unretouched' pictures from the 2013 Marie Claire photos went viral, were apparently altered to make her overall body look bad in the picture, according to photographer John Russo, New York Daily News reports.

"It has been falsely claimed that this photograph represents an un-retouched photo of Cindy Crawford.  That is not true," says Russo, in an interview with ABC News.

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"It's a fraudulent altered version of my photograph. I am grateful that this has been brought to the public's attention and corrections are being run in the media," he further added.

The viral photo, which was first tweeted by British journalist Charlene White made waves throughout the internet.

White has removed the tweet from her account and is no longer visible.

The picture showed the 'un-retouched' photo of the 49 year old supermodel in a very unflattering form of a flabby stomach and untoned thighs.

Magazine editors confirmed that the photo was an outtake from their cover shoot and called it, "Real, honest and gorgeous."

However, Russo has taken issue of the unauthorized release of the picture and his legal representative announced that anyone who published the leaked photo should take it down, according to SF Gate.

In a cease and desist letter taken by editors at TMZ, the lawyer also emphasizes that legal action must be taken for anyone who refuses to remove the photo.

A statement was also released by Russo, insisting that the image was stolen and intentionally altered.

Since the picture went viral, Crawford maintained her silence though her husband Rande Gerber uploaded a photo of her toned body via Instagram.

 "She got flowers and I got her. Happy Valentine's Day," states the matching caption along with the photo Gerber uploaded.

Neither the magazine Marie Claire nor Crawford has responded to Russo's statement that the unretouched photos are fake.

TagsCindy Crawford, unretouched pictures, altered