Pictures frozen in time -- are becoming clearer. In Us Weekly.

Contrary to what he sings, there seems to be quite a bit left of Nick Lachey…and the folks at Wenner Media, the publishers behind Rolling Stone and Us Weekly, are getting a good view of what’s still intact. Page Six of the New York Post reports that Nick was promised the cover of Rolling Stone in exchange for his recent tell-all interview about the end of his marriage to Jessica Simpson. But when Nick didn’t provide enough dirt, executives at the magazine pulled a switcheroo and passed the photos they had taken for the cover on to their sister publication, Us Weekly.

"It's absurd to dangle the cover in front of someone, and if it doesn't work out, just hand it to another magazine. We will think twice before dealing with Wenner again," said Nick’s new publicists at Sunshine Consultants, the company he quickly hired after firing Baker Winokur Ryder who had negotiated the original arrangement at Rolling Stone.

And while no one at Wenner has publicly commented, a source familiar with the situation told Page Six that, "The Us Weekly issue [with an oiled-up, shirtless Lachey on the cover] sold really well in Chelsea, but that's about it. It was the gayest cover in years." Or, at the very least, since the last time 98 Degrees was on it.