Debate rages over Nicole Kidman's racy Vanity Fair cover photoshoot

Fans slammed the styling and "really bad Photoshop". Photo / Supplied

Nicole Kidman has stripped off for a revealing new magazine cover, the 54-year-old Oscar-winner showing off her rock-hard abs for Vanity Fair's 2022 Hollywood Issue.

But the results have proved divisive online, with some calling out Vanity Fair for what they allege is excessive Photoshopping of the stunning star.

Kidman, who is this year nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Lucille Ball in Being The Ricardos, told Vanity Fair that all these years into her career, she doesn't think of herself as a movie star.

"I'm a little oddball. I'm in a state of just being willing to go with the flow," she said.

"I'm just still in that place of going, 'I'm not quite sure what defines a movie star … I still approach acting like I've just come out of drama school."

But it's the shoot accompanying the interview that's garnering the most attention today, with debate raging over that striking cover shot of Kidman dressed in a denim bikini top and miniskirt.

Many have called out what they claim is "really bad Photoshop" by Vanity Fair – not just of Kidman, but of other stars including Penelope Cruz featured in the issue:

I’m no expert but is this really bad photoshop? It looks like they drew the left oblique line in the wrong place & her left knee is facing one way while her foot is facing to the side. Nicole Kidman is beautiful and doesn’t need any of this done to her images. I just…. https://t.co/KPujPASUZ7

— Jessica Y. Flores (@jessicayflores) February 17, 2022

"No 54-year-old's body looks like that, not even Nicole Kidman's. Why are we we still doing this s**t?" read one popular Twitter response to the cover. "She is a beautiful woman and can do whatever she wants with her body. It's a criticism of the magazine's stylistic choices and insane air brushing."

"This literally looks like they took her head and …'Shopped it onto a completely different body," said another.

Why Vanity Fair decided to ruin Nicole Kidman and Penelope Cruz with all this photoshop?
Why the need ? 😫 pic.twitter.com/875CMluTHR

— Flav⎊ (@Darveyinbed) February 17, 2022

Others questioned the styling of the shoot, one asking why the star had been styled like a "teenager in Euphoria".

"I'm less concerned with whether her body is "real" or not, or healthy or not, or how photoshopped she is or isn't than wondering why she's styled like an early 90's teen pop star," wrote another.

Kidman is nominated for the fifth time at this year's Oscars, which will take place in LA on Monday, March 28 and will air locally on Seven. The Hawaii-born actress has been based in Australia in recent months, primarily to take care of her 81-year-old mother "and have her surrounded by her grandchildren", she revealed in a recent interview.

What part of Nicole Kidman’s already incredible body shall we over photoshop this year to convey our respect for her as an actress? pic.twitter.com/rbnIUqMv3H

— Chris Spargo (@chrisonchris) February 17, 2022

"I'm at the place where I'm being given the chance to view the world, because of how close we are, my mum is giving me the chance to view the world through an 81-year-old woman's eyes," Kidman explained later in the interview.

"She's giving me access, because she's also very direct and very honest, and so I'm getting access to the world through her eyes, my mother's eyes, so therefore a part of me almost at 80."