Anna Wintour Breaks Silence On Kamala Harris ‘Vogue’ Cover Backlash: We Want Nothing But To Celebrate Her Amazing Victory
Anna Wintour Breaks Silence On Kamala Harris ‘Vogue’ Cover Backlash: We Want Nothing But To Celebrate Her Amazing Victory
Anna Wintour has addressed the criticism surrounding Kamala Harris’s cover photo for Vogue magazine.
As previously reported, Kamala Harris‘ team was reportedly blindsided by the photo and never agreed to it for the print edition. Instead, they allegedly thought it would be a cover featuring Kamala Harris with a tan background and powder blue suit.
The cover also received lots of criticism on social media, as many critics said the Vice President-elect looked unflattering and washed out.
Now, Vogue boss Anna Wintour has spoken on it.
“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 continued:
“We want nothing but to celebrate Vice President-elect Harris’ amazing victory and the important moment this is in America’s history and particularly for women of color all over the world.”
She addressed reports of the photo selection process and added:
“There was no formal agreement about what the choice of the cover would be, and 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 were in the midst, as we still are of the most appalling pandemic that is taking lives by the minute.”
She went on to say:
“We felt to reflect this tragic moment in global history, a much less formal picture, something that was very, very accessible and approachable and real, really reflected the hallmark of the Biden-Harris campaign and everything that they’re trying to and I’m sure will achieve.”
The magazine also released a separate statement and said:
“The team at Vogue loved the images Tyler Mitchell shot and felt the more informal image captured Vice President-elect Harris’s authentic, approachable nature — which we feel is one of the hallmarks of the Biden/Harris administration. To respond to the seriousness of this moment in history, and the role she has to play leading our country forward, we’re celebrating both images of her as covers digitally.”
Kamala Harris’s niece, Meena Harris, also shared her thoughts in an interview with TODAY:
“It’s a big moment where we’ve elected the first woman in history, the first Black woman in history, and South Asian woman, to hold the office of vice president in our country’s history. It deserves the proper celebration of that moment, especially for a magazine that often has not had Black women on the cover.”
“I love the photos of the powder-blue suit. I think that Tyler’s incredibly talented. … It’s a big moment, and I’m glad that Tyler captured images in that blue suit that I think are deserving of this extraordinary moment.”
What are your thoughts on Anna Wintour’s statement? Comment and let us know.