Sidibe responds to 'Elle' controversy

Gabourey Sidibe has dismissed the recent accusations that her Elle cover photo was significantly altered by the magazine.

Earlier this week, several media outlets criticised Elle for allegedly lightening Sidibe's skin and cropping the image used for the magazine's 25th anniversary edition.

A rep for the star has insisted that the actress is very pleased with the finished cover photo, according to Access Hollywood.

"Gabourey is absolutely thrilled to be on the cover of Elle magazine’s 25th anniversary issue," the rep said.

A spokesperson for Elle previously asserted that the Oscar nominee's cover photo was treated just like any other.

"Nothing out of the ordinary was done. We have four separate covers this month and Gabby’s cover was not retouched any more or less than the others. We had 25 cover-worthy subjects in our portfolio and we chose Gabby because of who she is."

The spokesperson continued: "We shot this as a story of exuberant young women changing the world. If you take a looks at the portfolio in its entirety, each of the women were shot in different ways and for different reasons."

Lauren Conrad, Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfriend join Sidibe for the four alternate covers of Elle's October issue.