Vanity Fair Photographer Defends Shooting Karoline Leavitt’s Lips Up Close After Portrait Appeared to Show Filler Injection Sites

When Vanity Fair published its two-part interview series with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, the magazine also highlighted other prominent figures in President Donald Trump’s second administration, including press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt, 28—described by Vanity Fair as the administration’s “mouthpiece”—was photographed in a tight close-up portrait where what appeared to be lip-filler injection sites were visible. The image quickly drew intense reactions online, including comments like “jumpscare” and “no trigger warning is insane” on Vanity Fair’s Instagram post.

The portrait was shot by photographer Christopher Anderson, known for close-up work that has also appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, and The Wall Street Journal, among other outlets.

“Very close-up portraiture has been a fixture in a lot of my work over the years,” Anderson told The Independent after the images spread widely on Tuesday, Dec. 16. “Particularly, political portraits that I’ve done over the years. I like the idea of penetrating the theater of politics.”

Anderson also photographed Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, homeland security adviser and deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs James Blair.

Although the portraits shared a similar style, Anderson said he wasn’t trying to present anyone in an unflattering light.

“I know there’s a lot to be made with, ‘Oh, he intentionally is trying to make people look bad’ and that kind of thing — that’s not the case,” Anderson told The Independent. “If you look at my photograph work, I’ve done a lot of close-ups in the same style with people of all political stripes.”

He did note that he chose to move even closer to Leavitt than he did with some of the other officials in the set.

“Above all else, [I] try to cut through the image that politics want to project and get at something that is more truthful,” Anderson added.

The photographer also recalled an exchange with Miller after the shoot, prompted by how the White House officials were depicted in the images.

“When we were finished, [Miller] came up to me and he said, ‘You know you have a lot of power in the discretion you use to be kind to someone in your photographs,’ ” Anderson told The Independent. “And I look at him and I said, ‘You know, you do too.’ ”

Anderson added, “I don’t know how much he related to that.”

A White House spokeswoman, Taylor Rogers, criticized the photo spread when reached for comment about Anderson’s interview with The Independent, saying it was “clear that Vanity Fair intentionally photographed Karoline and the White House staff in bizarre ways, and deliberately edited the photos, to try to demean and embarrass them.”

Rogers continued, “Karoline is a beautiful person and truly one of the most incredible people you will meet in politics, and she is doing an extraordinary job serving the American people as the White House Press Secretary.”

Leavitt has not publicly commented on her Vanity Fair portrait. But Trump has repeatedly praised her appearance in the past, including her lips.

While departing from Israel on Air Force One on Oct. 13, the president, 79, took questions from pool reporters with Leavitt nearby.

“How’s Karoline doing? Is she doing good?” Trump asked before saying his top spokesperson would “never” be replaced. As a reporter began to ask a question, Trump said of Leavitt: “That face… and those lips, they move like a machine gun.”

And during an August interview with Newsmax, Trump praised both Leavitt’s performance and her physical appearance.

“She’s become a star. It’s that face, it’s that brain, it’s those lips — the way they move, they move like she’s a machine gun,” Trump said with a smile. He added, “She’s a star, and she’s great. I don’t think anybody has ever had a better press secretary than Karoline. She’s been amazing.”