Drake Clears The Air On Plastic Surgery Rumors

Drake has never been known to shy away from the spotlight, but this time, it wasn't about his music or his chart-topping records. Instead, the talk was about his body. Fans began to speculate that he may have had abdominal etching, a cosmetic surgery that makes it appear as though you have a sculpted six-pack, after a shirtless photo of the rapper went viral. But of course, in Drake fashion, he never allowed the rumors to spread too far.

Drake landed on the September 2 episode of Not This Again with Bobbi Althoff to put the murmurs to bed. "No," he said flatly when asked if he had a procedure. Though he indicated injectable cosmetic procedures were part and parcel of today's culture, the rapper insisted there was no way his abs were the result of a surgeon's knife. The 38-year-old even joked about the rumours, stating that fans have called him "BBL Drizzy," a reference to the Brazilian Butt Lift. "People also say that I got a BBL," he teased with a laugh at the absurdity. "I don't know if my wagon looked crazy when I walked in here."

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Instead, Drake offered that the photo in question was less about scalpels and more about editing tools. "I came from the gym, I was sweaty in that pic," he said. "Maybe I heightened the saturation or something on it. I think I hit it too hard. They don't look like that." Admitting to a little Facetune tweaking allowed Drake to control the narrative. It's an industry where image often feeds rumor, but Aukerman was able to get ahead of his narrative while still retaining his trademark sense of humor. Instead of resisting the gossip, he spun it into something fans could laugh along with.

Drake's reply highlights an ongoing dialogue about celebrity body shaming and body image. For everything from viewers to coverage to social media, the attention casts each detail of the league's affairs in super-high definition, making it ever more likely that speculation leads to rumor. But with his sharp humor and honest admission of photo manipulation, the rapper also served as a reminder to fans that not everything they see on the internet is what it appears to be. For now, Drake would like the world to know that, if you thought his six-pack might be surgically enhanced, well, his abs are real enough to generate the conversation. And if you ask him, the only thing etched about his image is his ability to continue commenting on culture.