The "unretouched" Cindy Crawford photo is fake, says photographer

That supposed "unretouched" photo of Cindy Crawford may not be so realafter all.

Last month, a leaked photo featuring a lingerie-clad Crawford went viral -- simply because it appeared to have little-to-no retouching, showing off wrinkles and some extra weight in the 49-year-old model's midsection.

The photo was reportedly snapped during a shoot for a December 2013 cover story from Marie Claire magazine's Mexico and Latin America editions.

But now TMZ reports that a lawyer for photographer John Russo claims the original photo was stolen and tweaked to make Crawford's midsection look worse. In a legal letter filed by his lawyer, obtained by the website, Russo threatens to sue publishers of the doctored photo. He's asking media outlets to take it down and apologize.

The photo was praised in February for its "normal" depiction of a model-celebrity -- but now it seems that it was a fake.

Meanwhile, this photo -- posted on Instagram by Crawford's husband, Rande Gerber, shortly after the other one leaked -- shows a pretty fab-looking Crawford: