Two weeks ago much-maligned Vogue editor Anna Wintour, the alleged subject of the movie The Devil Wears Prada, had an interview with Mike Wallace that aired on “60 Minutes.” Wintour seemed haughty and made some obnoxious statements. The most offensive thing Wintour said was cut from her “60 Minutes” segment, but details leaked online. Wintour admitted that she asked Oprah to lose weight ahead of her Vogue cover in 1998, and she also claimed “most” residents of the state of Minnesota are fat, saying “on a trip to Minnesota…I can only kindly describe most of the people I saw as little houses.” If the nasty harpy thinks it’s “kind” to call people “little houses” you have to wonder the lengths she’ll stoop to when she’s actually trying to be mean.
This week’s Star Magazine has a story that Wintour was considering putting singer Rihanna on the cover of Vogue, which would be significant because she hardly ever chooses African American celebrities and models to grace the sainted cover. Rihanna got the cold shoulder from Wintour, though, after her nude photos were leaked online:
It could have been Rihanna’s shining moment: the cover of Vogue! But when the nude pictures hit cyberspace, her once-in-a-lifetime chance was gone in a flash. Rihanna and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour had been talking for weeks about doing the cover and an inside spread, says a close friend of the singer, who adds that the two even chatted about it at the Met Costume Institute Gala on May 4. “Anna told her Vogue absolutely loves her and really wanted to work with her. Rihanna was ecstatic!” But since the photos came out, says the friend, “Anna hasn’t returned any of her calls. Rihanna’s so upset!”
[From Star Magazine, print edition, June 8, 2009]
The rest of the Star article is all about how Rihanna supposedly wants revenge on Chris Brown for leaking those nude photos of her, and we mentioned this briefly in an earlier story about Rihanna’s upcoming appearance in court. If the photos cost Rihanna the coveted cover of Vogue she’s got even more reason to want to get back at Brown. Let’s hope that translates to Rihanna giving compelling, damning testimony in the felony assault case against Brown.
Is there seriously no other celeb/artist to pose for Vogue that had a sex tape, or nude photos?
I find this really hard to believe.
Hasn’t Kiera Knightly been seen topless? She was on the September cover I believe…
Anna Wintous is ugly and insufferable. Why that hair style for all these years? It’s too severe, looks awful. Why do we all care what this old lady thinks is fashionable?
Sienna Miller has made the cover of Vogue. Dispite her lack of talent, and all the questionable things she has done. Wintour has put other K listers on her cover despite their unimpressive resumes. However, people Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Halle Berry, Tyra Banks, Beverly Johnson, Veronica Webb and NAOMI CAMPBELL have never made a Wintour cover. Ever. It was almost a ten year gap between Oprah’s cover and Jennifer Hudson’s. Marble mouth Beyonce has been singing and dancing around for ten years and she just made her first Vogue cover. The bottom line is that Wintour simply doesn’t do black. She not above putting a flavor of the month on her cover, and this lame excuse for her dissing Rihanna is bogus. She’s simply reached her quota for the millenium and her contribution to mankind has been fulfilled.
Get stuffed, you old hag.
I don’t think I ever realized just how ugly Anna Wintour is.
she looks Bilbo from the Hobbitt cartoon!
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1437899776/tt0077687
@Kerry
Exactly!
“Wintour was considering putting singer Rihanna on the cover of Vogue, which would be significant because she hardly ever chooses African American celebrities and models to grace the sainted cover.”
Well, to be fair, Rihanna is from Barbados, she’s not African-American.
methinks Anna just needed a reason not to put her on the cover. I’m sure her staff was all for Rihanna, and Anna had no reason to disagree, until the photos were leaked.
I mean come on, there have been plenty of figures on the cover of Vogue who have been nude in some manner. models and actresses are always naked.
She won’t put Rihanna but she will put the same, tired, bland actress time and time again. Paltrow, Barrymore, (Kate) Hudson, and Witherspoon. Honestly, sometimes I can’t even tell them apart.
If its going to be like that atleast put MODELS on the cover, where they belong!
Ah, good old Anna Wintour. A sad, used-up shell of a woman living vicariously through the fame, beauty and style of actual living, breathing women, women with real careers who serve a purpose in this world, albeit subjectively.
Wintour’s nothing more than a miserable little shrew whose main goal in life is to inflict her misery on everyone else who (thankfully) isn’t a carbon copy of herself.
And she has really bad hair.
She has that hair because it’s the ONLY cut where she could cover almost all of her wrinkly old face and still see where she’s walking. It looks as though her mouth might crack off if she actually smiled a real smile. I bet she hasn’t smiled in at least fifty years.
So she was “haughty” on 60 Minutes – yeah, there’s a surprise …
I once read somewhere that magazines with women of color on the cover always sell less than issues with white women on the cover. (This was a way back, before Oprah’s mag.) So, the editor has to choose whether to go for the money, or go for a liberal, multi-cultural vibe. It’s obvious where Wintour stands. I must add though, that I absolutely adore Vogue. Even though I can”t afford high fashion, I love reading about it, as well as reading about the fashionistas and socialites, as in who wore what where. It’s my form of escapism from housework and 4 kids! Plus, the articles and interviews are really fascinating and well done. I can’t bear to crack open the far inferior Cosmo or Glamour, which seem to focus solely on “how to please him/get him/drive him wild” ad nauseum….
My my my, i think Ms. Wintour has an over-inflated sense of importance about herself and her magazine.
doesn’t this old hag have those chipmunk cheeks that people were saying arise from bulemia?
Maybe she has hideous ears or something…but that Little Boy Blue hair has got to go. She thinks it’s her “signature look” but just like all other “signature looks” i.e. Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace and even this Lady GaGa moron, you are just the only idiot in the room who chooses to look like that.
Anyway, everyone knows Ms. Wintour never has black chicks on her covers so it really is not a surprise to me.
@latvian lady: So putting a black chick on the cover of your magazine even though your sales will be about 10% less is now a “liberal, multicultural” thing to do? Interesting.
it’s to cover up her bulemia cheeks!
@ Latvian Lady
When you get back from Oz, maybe you can join the real conversation.
@ Lativian Lady
Black women make the cover of ever other magazine. Only Vogue is behind the curve. Well, American Vogue. Italian Vogue did an all black issue last July and broke records, and damn near the sound barrier. It went into second print in almost less than a week. It featured only black models cover to cover and instantly became a collectors item when the lines for the magazine grew beyond the block.
Rhianna has such style. It would be great to see her nail a vogue cover. I’m sure her time will come!
Rhianna has no style whatsoever. Period.
There’s a big difference in nudity in a film & trashy pictures taken with your phone.
I think a lot of you missed the point to “lativian Lady’s” comment. Vogue is a form of escapism for a lot of middle class women who dream of wearing gorgeous designer clothes. Why is she being labeled racists and out of touch with reality? Isn’t that the exact byline for Celebitchy,” Stylish celebrity escapism”? If you’re going to coat her with that brush, be sure to get yourself too.
and “kerry”, Beverly
Johnson was on Vogue, decades ago.
I just found a site that has the photos, but I dont know how to link it. http://www.time.com/time/fashion/20030908/race/3.html
Rihanna is more than just some leaked cellphone pictures from her fist-wielding ex.
@ Kerry,
Halle Berry has made the cover of Vogue before, she made it after she won Oscar. While I understand what you’re saying, I as a black woman truly dont beleive that Rhiyanna has even done enough to get that cover anyways (especially when you look at the type of black women who have made that cover. ie: Oprah, Halle, First Lady Michelle Obama). Just because Rhiyanna is black, doesn’t mean she is entitled. I know its messed up that black women in that business have to do two times as much to get the cover of Vogue, but it is what it is.
Im not sure how much I beleive this story, its just too far fetched.
@ Kerry, great point!
That’s BS not allowing Rihanna on the cover of Vogue, as if it’s some saintly piece of literature anyway.
That’s a complete cop out excuse. We all know Anna Wintour doesn’t do black people because she’s afraid of losing money.
Rihanna doesn’t need her cover anyway. It’s not the end all, be all.
There will be BETTER opportunities for her (and for more women of color, not just those within a certain color range either).
@ Hmmm, yeah Beverly made the cover in the 70’s before Wintour reigned. However, the issue isn’t Rihanna sense of entitlement. It’s Wintour’s judgement. If the story is to be believed, she had been a viable candidate before the nudie picks. And now she’s not. It’s just ridiculous that that alone would disqualify her when the qualifications for Vogue covers in the past have been trendy and capricious. Judging from her past picks, Wintour hasn’t employed any moral litmus tests before.
What escapes me is how Anna Wintour got to be where she is to begin with. I mean, just LOOK at her.
She’s gross. I agree that her hair looks off… I mean, if you can’t even get your own hair right what makes you think you can run a magazine about style? And who validated her delusional grandiosity and allowed her to become as powerful as she is?
oh who cares. Rhianna is hardly a style icon, Wintour knows what sells or she would not still be at the helm. She simply changed her mind. I’m certain that many times celebrities are entertained with the idea of being on the cover and they go through the talks and al only to have the editor change their mind in the end. Maybe she just decided Rhianna wouldn’t sell as many copies as someone else. I dont think her hair looks bad but she has been wearing that style for an awful long time but who cares if she likes it and looks good, who cares?
Does anyone think that the thought of Rhianna wanting to get back at Chris Brown because she lost the Vogue cover, and NOT because he beat her senseless the saddest thing ever? And it is probably true….pathetic.
If that is true, yeah, that is sad. At least she might testify against him now, which is a good thing.
I think that after the beating hearings/trial are over and he’s had punishment, and some time has passed, she will realize in hindsight the full impact of what she’s been through and inspire others. If she’s smart, that is. If she’s dumb, she’ll just move on to another abuser and her career will tank.
Very subliminal threads, CB.
@Kerry; It is demographics, Ad revenue rules.
On Vogue;
“It is primarily aimed at women with over eighty percent of its readers being female aged 25 to 54 and in the AB socio-economic quintile”
United States
Estimate
Margin of Error
Total:
299,398,485
*****
White alone
221,331,507
+/-120,829
Black or African American alone
37,051,483
+/-40,251
American Indian and Alaska Native alone
2,369,431
+/-25,930
Asian alone
13,100,095
+/-29,634
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone
426,194
+/-10,127
Some other race alone
19,007,129
+/-109,510
Two or more races:
6,112,646
+/-62,937
Two races including Some other race
1,390,337
+/-29,772
Two races excluding Some other race, and three or more races
4,722,309
+/-50,099
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey
I really wonder where Vogue ranks in the magazine industry as far as total market capitalization. I don’t know a single person who has a subscription. The magazine is nothing but ad after ad. Maybe it just isn’t big in my area. Otherwise, how is this magazine not bankrupt?
I just want to point out that Rihanna is neither African, nor American. Sometimes trying to be politically correct gets in the way of being accurate…
I believe if she were to be placed on the cover, it would have been the best seller, look at Rhianna’s skin tone, and she is young. Nothing sells more than youth. She probably will not want it to be known that the Black girl steals the show.
What annoys me about people who say she hasn’t done enough or isn’t a style icon is that Vogue had BLAKE LIVELY on their cover after she had done I think one movie and Gossip Girl. I didn’t even know who she was until I read about it on this site and I was like, Who? What’s Gossip Girl?
Rihanna seems like a great choice considering her style, even though she looks like a complete idiot to me, is very distinctive and the teens are following her style cues. I dunno-seems like a cop out to me for Ms. Wintour to disqualify her just because some nudes she took for, and seemingly in the presence of, her boyfriend popped up.
Kerry: I have that issue of Italian Vogue featuring all black models and I had to go to four magazine stores to find it. It was sold out everywhere else.
Wasn’t the trash basket known as Paris Hilton on the cover a few years ago? Or was that Vanity Fair? Either way, I can’t see why Rhianna wouldn’t be marketable, why doesn’t Anna just put herself on every cover 🙂 That will sell!
Rihanna is gorgeous and stylish. Every time I see a photo of her, she looks put together and is wearing something cool and daring. To refuse to put her on the cover because her dickhead ex released some private photos of her (what person in their 20s HASN’T taken naked pics of themselves or had them taken by others?) is essentially punishing her for his actions. Oh boy, now we can look forward to yet another Kate Winslet etc cover. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Winslet, but overexposed much?
Rihanna has style and she is really gorgeous. Anna Wintour is an absolute idiot who thinks she rules the fashion world. TIME to retire, lady!
Anna Wintour is further proof that genetics always win out in the end. This woman has access to the most expensive skin care products in the world, and she still looks like a shriveled up prune. Whereas my 75-year-old great aunt has been using Jergens body lotion on her face for years and is virtually wrinkle-free.
As for Rhianna, I think she’s stunningly gorgeous, but I’ve never been crazy about her style or her hair.
Anyone who says Rihanna isn’t a style icon or has no style, needs to wake the hell up. Rihanna is not only an individual on the cutting edge of fashion, she’s breaking all accepted ideas of the “norm”! Get informed, for Christ’s sake!
This article aside, it never fails to amaze me that people seem to think that the stuff they take pictures of and post on FB, or share with that guy you’re just ever so hot for right now, will never end up anywhere. Thinking ahead a little never hurt anyone.
Im 24 and i never took nude pics of myself for boyfriend or whatever,
Rihanna is from Barbados. How is that african american?
first off, rihanna is not a fashion icon, she has stylists who adorn her with borrowed clothes and accessories.
Also, there have been woman who’ve had the cover of vogue who’ve done nudity, but not in the trashy way rihanna did.
She was bent over, exposing her vagina/butt/ and breasts. Her pictures are sleazy compared to nudity in movies.
lastly, its not just the nude pics, its also probably all the other drama surrounding her. I’d also like to add, that she is talentless , beauty can only take you so far.
If you REALLY want to have that particular conversation…
Barbados is not the original home of any of the African ethnic people living there today.
African slaves were brought to Barbados by Europeans in the Georgian reign, and they have been there ever since. So…regardless of the fact that she’s from a tropical non-African island, the ethnicity is very much African.
Yes, she’s technically Barbadian, but she has lived here in America for a lot of years, now (way before she was big), and in America we try to stay away from calling people by a color. We don’t say “brown people” because it’s obviously a flip and dismissive label. Black people in this country have objected to being identified by a color for the same reason. So. As a nation, we refer to people by their ethnic identity as well as possible (unless you’re white…then we just call you white…cause screw white people’s feelings…they deserve being called a color…but I digress).
Most Americans, I’ll feel free here to speculate, are unaware that Rihanna is not an American.
Personally, I agree that it gets out of hand with the political correctness, but picking THIS as something to focus on when there is such a wealth of topical gossip related to this woman of much greater weight than whether people call her black or African-American? In my opinion, that’s a waste of good gossip space. Plus, I think it’s disrespectful to call people by a color. People are more than that.
Someone really ought to tell Anna Wintour that she really can’t afford to be mean to people since she is so ugly. I am baffled as to why people seem to clamor at the opportunity to be in her presence/under her tutelage and cower when she is around. The woman is a hag and has the heart to match. Ugh.
who gives a crap? get on wit ur lives people. no1 cares bout ur opinions!
I like Rihanna
for your record Kerry, Naomi was on the cover of 1st september issue Anna Wintour did!