Vogue is slammed AGAIN for trying to cash in on Kamala Harris controversy by releasing a 'special Inauguration Day issue' featuring the VP-elect's chosen cover after its original choice was branded 'lazy' and 'disrespectful'
Vogue is attempting to cash in on the furious backlash surrounding its Kamala Harris cover choice by releasing the Vice President-elect's preferred photo on the front of a 'limited special edition Inauguration Day issue' of the magazine.
The publication announced the release of a limited edition run of the magazine on Instagram on Tuesday - 24 hours before Joe Biden's inauguration - revealing that it will print a limited run of issues featuring an image of Harris, 56, wearing a powder-blue power suit - the same photo that was originally relegated to the digital issue, after being chosen by the VP-elect and her team as their favorite from her shoot.
Many social media users were quick to blast the second cover release, with several questioning why the image was not featured on the cover in the first place instead of a widely-slammed photo that showed Harris posing in a casual ensemble and Converse sneakers in front of a 'messy' cloth backdrop.
'Finally, you have published the picture that the VP-elect agreed on, not the previous one. But [the way] you handled this situation is simply disgusting,' one person wrote, adding the hashtag #vogueisracist.
Some also accused the publication of trying to make money off the back of the controversy, with one remarking: 'Gotta get your coin,' while adding an eye-roll emoji.
Fury: Vogue was slammed over its Kamala Harris covers again after releasing a 'special Inauguration Day issue' featuring her chosen image, after removing it from the original cover
Milking it? The publication was accused of cashing in on the controversy after it revealed that a second version of the latest issue would be sold online, with the digital cover on its front
Slammed: Social media users blasted Vogue when its original cover (pictured) was leaked - with critics branding it 'lazy' and 'disrespectful', and claiming Harris' skin looked 'lightened'
However a source at the publication told DailyMail.com that Vogue is in no way trying to capitalize on the scandal, insisting that the team behind Harris' shoot wanted to find a way to 'celebrate' the second cover choice - particularly as it received so much public attention.
Still, critics were quick to demand answers over why this image was no featured on the original cover, and some even called editor-in-chief Anna Wintour out personally, with one commenting: 'It should be the only edition Anna.'
The release of Vogue's 'special' inauguration issue, which retails for $7.99, the same price as a regular issue, and was described as a 'celebration of this historic moment', comes one week to the day after Wintour defended the original cover amid bitter backlash and claims the VP-elect's skin had been 'white washed'.
Speaking out: Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour defended the controversial cover after it was slammed by social media users as 'lazy' and 'disrespectful'
In a statement issued to New York Times' podcast Sway, Wintour, 71, insisted the magazine did not mean to 'diminish the importance' of Harris' 'incredible victory' - while shutting down reports that the magazine had 'formally agreed' to use a specific photo of the VP-elect on the cover.
'Obviously we have heard and understood the reaction to the print cover and I just want to reiterate that it was absolutely not our intention to, in any way, diminish the importance of the Vice President-Elect’s incredible victory,' she said, before adding: 'There was no formal agreement about what the choice of the cover would be.'
The furious backlash over Harris' cover came seven months after Wintour admitted to allowing 'hurtful and intolerant' behavior at the magazine, as well as failing to do enough to champion black staffers and designers.
In October, she faced multiple calls for her resignation from black employees who have worked with Vogue over the years. Following the Harris cover controversy, dozens of social media users echoed these cries, insisting that Wintour should step down.
Vogue's decision to release a second print version of its latest issue reignited criticism over claims Harris' skin was 'lightened' during the photo editing process, with many noting that while the latest cover is an improvement on the original, it still doesn't live up to the magazine's normally-high standards.
'Y'all still haven't fixed the white washed photos. Pass,' one person said in response to Vogue's Instagram post.
Another wrote: 'No styling of the magnificent subject... in front of a short curtain with a frumpled tablecloth/throw on a table...?? Forgive me but this is shocking and inappropriate. Disappointed AF.'
Eye roll: Social media users were quick to slam the release of a limited-edition version of the magazine, accusing Vogue of trying to make more money from the controversy
Outrage: Instagram users accuses Vogue of 'backpedaling', with one person suggesting the publication had 'planned' the second release 'from the start'
'Did you throw this cover together in like an hour?' a third questioned. 'So bad, I don't understand the background at all.'
When asked about the latest controversy, a spokesperson from Vogue told DailyMail.com that the new cover was released as a response to the 'enormous interest' in the digital image.
'In recognition of the enormous interest in the digital cover, and in celebration of this historic moment, we will be publishing a limited number of special edition inaugural issues,' the spokesperson said.
The outrage over the second cover image - which has to be ordered online and was not sent to subscribers - echoes much of the outrage over the first version, which featured Harris in an even more casual outfit and setting.
Fury over the shoot was first sparked when Vogue's cover pick was leaked online last weekend, revealing an image of Harris wearing a shiny black jacket, white T-shirt, and Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers - a style that she occasionally wore while on the campaign trail.
She was pictured posing in front of swathes of green and pink fabric, which are meant to represent the colors of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first historically African American Greek-lettered sorority.
According to multiple sources, the chosen photo was not Harris' preferred option. Instead, that image was used first for the digital issue, and now for the special Inauguration Day release.
At the time of its release, a source close to Harris said that she and her team were 'extremely disappointed' with the Vogue's cover choice, with the insider suggesting to DailyMail.com that the VP-elect privately agreed with much of the online criticism of the cover shot.
'She is... they are of course extremely disappointed with the photo,' the source said, however they declined to denounce specific aspects of the cover.
Repeat: Many insisted that the latest cover also appears to have been 'white washed', pointing out that the VP-elect's skin 'looks white' in the photos
Criticism: Many made the same comments about the latest cover that were voiced over the first, accusing Vogue of lazy editing and styling
Better: Some celebrated the fact that Harris' chosen cover would get the chance to feature on a print version of the magazine
They added that Harris had thought her preferred image - which shows the VP-elect in a powder blue suit - would be used on the cover, and said she was only made aware that the more 'casual' photo had been swapped in when the cover was leaked online.
The image was quickly condemned by social media users, who insisted that the low-quality photo fell short of Vogue's usual style standards, with some accusing the publication of 'white-washing' Harris' skin.
Many online critics of the shoot were in agreement that the second cover was far more suitable and flattering, raising questions about why it was shifted to the front of the digital issue.
However Wintour claimed in her statement that all of the Vogue staffers who worked on the Harris cover agreed that the image chosen was the best representation of 'the moment that we are living in'.
'When the two images arrived at Vogue, all of us felt very, very strongly that the less formal portrait of the Vice President-Elect really reflected the moment that we were living in which we are all in the midst — as we still are — of the most appalling pandemic that is taking lives by the minute,' she said.
Prior to the release of the cover, Wintour spoke to Sway host Kara Swisher about the cover in a taped interview, during which she described the image as being 'joyful and optimistic' - ironically stating that she 'could not imagine' anyone could see it in any other way.
'What's amazing about the February cover to me is that it is just so joyful and optimistic,' she said during the podcast interview - which was taped one day before the cover leaked online.
'And I cannot imagine that there's anyone that really is going to find this cover anything but that, and positive, and an image of a woman in control of her life who is going to bring us, with the President-elect, the leadership that we so need.'
Wintour went on to describe the cover image as being 'very, very accessible and approachable and real', saying that it 'really reflected the hallmark of the Biden-Harris campaign'.
When the print cover first emerged several Twitter users actually questioned whether it was real, saying the quality of the photo and the styling seemed way too low for America's leading fashion magazine.
'Wait that Kamala Vogue cover is real?!' one user questioned. 'I thought it was fake —that's how bad it is. Did they just ask her to send them photos her husband took or..?'
'Vogue has Kamala Harris in some f**king Converse. Someone needs to throw a cinderblock at Anna Wintour,' another wrote.
Activist Charlotte Clymer tweeted: 'Folks who don't get why the Vogue cover of VP-elect Kamala Harris is bad are missing the point.
'The pic itself isn't terrible as a pic. It's just far, far below the standards of Vogue. They didn't put thought into it. Like homework finished the morning it's due. Disrespectful.'
Others suggested that Harris' skin had been 'lightened' in the image, with author Wajahat Ali writing: 'What a mess up. Anna Wintour must really not have Black friends and colleagues.'
'Kamala Harris is about as light skinned as women of color come and Vogue still f**ked up her lighting. WTF is this washed out mess of a cover?' another user, E. Vaughan, tweeted.
Panned: When the original cover was leaked online last weekend, Twitter users branded it 'lazy' and 'disrespectful', and some even questioned whether it was actually real
Some critics even called for Wintour to be fired.
'Anna Wintour needs to go,' a particularly frustrated critic wrote. 'If the only time her team can properly style a black women is when she's covered in couture then her tenure has ran it course.'
Wintour came into the cross-hairs of America's reckoning on race over the summer after she was accused of discriminating against employees because of the color of their skin.
The 71-year-old, who was born in London, who has been at the helm of Vogue for more than three decades, responded to the outrage by issuing an extraordinary mea culpa in June.
In a company-wide memo, Wintour admitted to allowing 'hurtful and intolerant' behavior at the magazine and conceded that she had not done enough to champion black staffers and designers.
'I want to start by acknowledging your feelings and expressing my empathy towards what so many of you are going through: sadness, hurt, and anger too,' Wintour began.
'I want to say this especially to the Black members of our team — I can only imagine what these days have been like. But I also know that the hurt, and violence, and injustice we're seeing and talking about have been around for a long time. Recognizing it and doing something about it is overdue.'
However Wintour's letter did little to quell the controversy surrounding her decision to remain in her role - and in October, a group of 18 black journalists who have worked with her over the years accused her of favoring employees who are thin, white, and from elite backgrounds in a piece published by the New York Times.
Eleven of them called for her resignation following offensive incidents involving her use of the word 'pickaninny', and other cultural appropriation controversies, including outrage over a 2017 Vogue shoot that featured Karlie Kloss posing in a geisha outfit, with her face in pale makeup and her hair dyed black.
The photo shoot in Japan drew immediate accusations of 'yellowface', however Wintour reportedly shut down concerns from her staff, insisting that the pictures could not be cut because it would incur an 'enormous expense'.
In December Wintour was promoted to become the first-ever chief executive of Condé Nast, in addition to her roles as Vogue Editor-in-Chief and Condé Nast artistic director. Her new title, global chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, gave her control over all of the publications 25 editions across the globe.
No comments