Overview
- AFP said Tuesday it withdrew a November photo of press secretary Karoline Leavitt after learning the White House disliked it, while stressing the removal was an internal quality call.
- The image, by AFP’s Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, was a low‑angle shot of Leavitt holding her son with the turkey Waddle in the foreground during a pre‑Thanksgiving briefing in the James S. Brady Room.
- Once AFP unpublished the frame, Getty Images’ library also dropped it through their distribution partnership, and Getty said the White House never contacted the company.
- After reports of the removal, the picture spread widely on social media and remained visible in at least one outlet, the Swiss newspaper Tages‑Anzeiger.
- The episode follows reporting that Pentagon briefings barred photographers after photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were deemed unflattering, fueling concerns about press access and editorial independence.