CBS Denies ’60 Minutes’ Promotional Photo is Manipulated

People have claimed that Lesley Stahl, center, is leaning against nothing.

CBS has been forced to deny that its new promotional photo for the upcoming 60 Minutes series was manipulated.

The Daily Beast and The Independent both published articles carrying claims that the portrait of 10 journalists taken by photographer Mark Seliger was either Photoshopped or AI-generated.

The claims centered around Lesley Stahl, who is in the middle of the frame and apparently leaning against thin air. Her left hand seemingly clutches onto nothing at all while her legs lean at an unnatural angle.

CBS hit back against the claims. Jennifer Adler, the SVP of Communications for CBS News, tells the Daily Beast that “there’s a table behind her.”

Zooming into the photo and there does appear to be a small, lectern-like table poking out from behind Adler.

A group portrait of 10 people does lend itself to a composite image where the individuals are lit separately and then edited together. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are not all in the same room at the same time, but it is difficult to light 10 people correctly at once, so photographers will sometimes resort to lighting each person individually.

Mark Seliger is a well-established and respected photographer who is the former chief photographer of Rolling Stone. He has also worked for Vanity Fair and GQ. No doubt he has the skill to light 10 people at once.

“Bringing ten people together in one frame can be a challenge, but with this team there was an immediate chemistry and a real sense of connection. You could feel the history of 60 Minutes, but also the energy of where it’s going. That’s what I hoped would come through in the photograph,” Seliger tells CBS News.

The photograph was shot in the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal, New York. The location holds an important place in the history of 60 Minutes because the iconic train station was used as a broadcast studio from 1939 to 1964, when it was home to CBS Television Studios.

“I wanted the photograph to capture the character of these ten remarkable journalists, both individually and as a group. The Oyster Bar was the perfect destination, infused with its own history and character,” Seliger adds.

Image creditsPhotographs by Mark Seliger / CBS News