Beyonce

Word has it that Vanity Fair really likes them fair ? fair-complexioned that is. RadarOnline.com, the web component for Radar magazine, is accusing the mag of digitally lightening Beyoncé?s skin for its cover and images. This month?s hip-hop theme cover featuring Beyonce makes her the first African-American woman to front the glossy since Tina Turner appeared in 1993. But Radar questions whether the Destiny?s Child member is too black for Graydon Carter, the glossy?s chief editor? A high-level source at Vanity Fair has allegedly snitched to Radar that the magazine digitally altered her image to appear several shades lighter.

Convinced that a series of gloomy covers has contributed to the slump in VF?s sales, the source told Radar, Carter ordered his art department to lighten up the singer-actress.

?Everything on the cover is bright, including the white background, to make it seem as white as can be,? said the source, who claims that the pop diva?s medium-dark complexion was airbrushed to a ?Jennifer Lopez shade of bronze? to fit in with the magazine?s cheery new aesthetic.

But the brightening of Knowles caused other problems. According to Radar?s source, the singer?s cover photo clashed with inside photos, which pictured Jay-Z. ?All the photos of Beyoncé had been made so white that Jay-Z?had to be lightened up, too,? said the source.

Not surprisingly, the magazine?s spokeswoman insisted that the singer?s portraits were ?absolutely not? manipulated and said that any change in her skin tone was a result of lighting and makeup. Beyoncé?s spokesperson also agreed.

?There are very fair-skinned black people in this world and Beyonce is one of them,? Yvette Noel-Schure told Access Hollywood.