For decades, Vanity Fair has brought together an impressive collection of film’s brightest stars for its annual Hollywood issue. This year, Twitter users are noting that the magazine appears to have thrown in a couple of extra arms and legs.

“Well … I guess everybody knows now … I have 3 legs,” tweeted Reese Witherspoon. “I hope you can still accept me for who I am.”

Witherspoon’s additional limb is not the only curious feature of the cover, shot by Annie Leibovitz. In another image, Oprah Winfrey appears to be posing with two arms by her side, while a third is gripping Witherspoon round the waist. “I accept your 3d leg. As I know you accept my 3d hand,” Winfrey tweeted at Witherspoon.

Vanity Fair conceded that Oprah’s additional arm was a mistake, but said Witherspoon’s extra limb was a visual trick caused by the lining of her dress.

Vanity Fair tweeted: “While we would have loved the exclusive on @RWitherspoon’s three legs, unfortunately it’s just the lining of her dress. As for @Oprah, how can we expect her to juggle it all with just two hands? (We are correcting this error online).”

Now in its 24th year, Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood issue has become a significant feature of awards season, bringing together several of the stars in the running for the Oscars. Alongside Winfrey and Witherspoon, this year’s issue features Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks, Jessica Chastain, Harrison Ford, Michael B Jordan, Zendaya and Gal Gadot.

However, one absent star is James Franco, who was removed from the cover in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.

Vanity Fair told the Hollywood Reporter: “We made a decision not to include James Franco on the Hollywood cover once we learned of the misconduct allegations against him.”

Franco, who received a Golden Globe for his performance in The Disaster Artist, described the allegations as “not accurate”.