Last week, we had a minor preview of Elle Magazine’s October issue – Elle is celebrating their 25th anniversary, and they chose to do four different newstand covers, in addition to a lovely pictorial of the 25 hottest celebrities around the age of 25. Megan Fox seemed like the most gossip-worthy of those chosen, but other celebrities like Amanda Seyfried and Lauren Conrad and Meghan McCain were also chosen for pictorials, amongst others. Gabourey Sidibe was chosen for one of the four covers – and the above image is the cover. They dramatically lightened her skin. Sigh… Jesus, Elle. The magazine even released a statement about the controversy, basically saying that everyone gets retouched, so whatever.

The 27-year-old is one of four celebrities to appear on four separate covers for its 25th anniversary issue. In the image Sidibe’s skin appears to be several shades lighter than her normal colour.

The magazine said the four celebrities – Sidibé, actresses Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, and Lauren Conrad, the reality star – were chosen as examples of young women who were “changing the world”.

ELLE has also been criticised because each of the other three cover girls are shown in full length photographs while Sidibe’s image is cropped at chest level. In a statement the magazine said that “nothing out of the ordinary” had been done to the photograph.

“We have four separate covers this month and Gabby’s cover was not retouched any more or less than the others” it read. “We had 25 cover-worthy subjects in our portfolio and we chose Gabby because of who she is. We shot this as a story of exuberant young women changing the world. If you take a look at the portfolio, each of the women were shot in different ways and for different reasons.”

It is not the first time there has been a row over the use of skin lightening of celebrities on magazine covers or advertisements.

In 2008 beauty giant L’Oréal was accused of ‘whitewashing’ the complexion of Beyoncé Knowles in an advertisement for a haircare product.

Sidibé shot to fame after her appearance as Claireece Jones, a 16-year-old who is abused by her mother, and pregnant with her father’s child in the film Precious.

[From The Telegraph]

The criticism about the cover started almost immediately – a Salon columnist seemed to take note of Sidibe’s “token” status on Elle’s list, both as an African-American woman, and as an overweight woman. Others are simply complaining about the skin-lightening thing, which honestly, I find more offensive. The whole “Sidibe is on the cover of magazine, shock” thing is overblown, as is the breast-beating that she didn’t get enough press this past awards season. However, when editors start lightening black actresses or models skin to make a point about “beauty” and “style” – we’re treading in very dangerous waters.

Elle photos courtesy of Elle online, additional photos of Sidibe courtesy of WENN. Thanks to CB for the side-by-sides!

A few weeks ago, several celebrities went to Washington, D.C. for the annual Correspondents’ Dinner. It’s one of the rare Washington events that attracts a big clusterf-ck of press, politicians and celebrities, all jostling for attention. One of the celebrities in Washington that weekend was Gabourey Sidibe. I saw photos of her at various events, and didn’t really think much of it… until several days later, when two different media sources described Sidibe’s attitude, actions and statements while in Washington. The picture of Sidibe was that of a very rude woman who had no idea how to treat her fans with respect, a woman who had no idea how to play the game like a professional, especially when she was at one of the biggest media events of the year. In summary, she sounded like an a–hole.

Anyway, just a few days ago, Sidibe’s mom Alice Tan Ridley gave an interview to Radar about the allegations that Sidibe is totally rude. Her denial is kind of half-assed, though, and it amounts to “That’s not the way I raised her.”

Alice Tan Ridley spoke to RadarOnline.com to defend her daughter Gabourey Sidibe regarding claims that Sidibe was rude to reporters and fans during and after The White House Correspondents Dinner.

Journalist Jonathan Capeheart from The Washington Post revealed that the Oscar-nominated Precious star had been mean to him while other reporters also complained about her attitude and the way she treated some fans. Mediabistro.com reported that at an MSNBC after party, the normally friendly actress snapped at one fan who asked for a photograph.

When the fan said jokingly, “That’s all you’re going to give me,” Sidibe responded, “You’ll get what I give you!”

But her mom – who is currently competing on America’s Got Talent– poured cold water on these reports of diva-like antics. The New York subway singer told RadarOnline.com: “I just spoke with Gabby yesterday while she was filming in Arizona and she is fine.”

“Would you believe all of those comments? Gabby was not raised to be a rude person. It has been a big change having all that attention and I think she has done well- she is happy right now– those comments are just other people’s opinions.”

Ridley is also hoping to find fame and fortune as well by winning NBC’s popular talent show this summer. She performed before a packed house recently at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York where she tried to impress judges Piers Morgan, Howie Mandel and Sharon Osbourne.

[From Radar]

Eh. Yeah, I don’t think her mom’s denial amounts to much. I said before that the Washington reporters and bloggers sounded honest, and their summary of Sidibe’s actions while in Washington seemed very likely. And the mom doesn’t really seem to deny it either – she’s just passing it off as “other people’s opinions”. Yes, in “other people’s opinions” Gaby needs to learn how to handle her fans and the media without coming across like an entitled, self-centered bitch. By the way, her mom sounds sort of like Dina Lohan, doesn’t she? Like she’s trying to get famous on the back of her daughter’s fame, the kind of celebrity-entourage enabling that can lead to some dangerous sh-t.

Here’s Alice:

Header: Sidibe on April 26, 2010 in NYC. Credit: WENN.

Oh noes! HuffPo just compiled the worst grouping of criticism about my girl, Gabourey Sidibe. I’ve defended Gaby so many times – partly because I hate the way everyone gangs up on her, and partly because I’ve always thought she comes across as a really sweet, funny, positive young woman. Not so much, if these reports can be believed. And I tend to think they could be – these are anecdotal stories from Washington reporters. I’m not saying Washington reporters don’t lie, I’m just saying that I don’t see why they would lie about this.

Washington Post columnist/blogger Jonathan Capehart took to his blog to complain about how “mean” Sidibe was when he approached her at the Correspondents’ Dinner last weekend:

It’s always a let-down when folks you’ve admired or respected from afar turn out to be jerks in person. Case in point: Gabourey Sidibe, the Oscar-nominated actress in the title role of “Precious.”

Y’all know how much I loved the powerful film from director Lee Daniels about an obese New York City teenager enduring unspeakable abuse at the hands of her parents. After Oscar night, I wrote, “I was rooting for Gabourey Sidibe for best actress. But the moment edgy comedienne Mo’Nique won the Oscar for supporting actress, I knew that the divine Sidibe was toast.” But after meeting Sidibe at the White House Correspondents dinner and hearing about others’ negative encounters with her, I’m putting down my pompoms.

I was thrilled to spot her at a table laughing uproariously with the man sitting to her right. “I know you’re having a good time and I’m sorry to interrupt,” I began. My next sentence didn’t come out because Sidibe shouted over the din, “Yeah, come back in five minutes!” Thinking she was joking, I laughed and pretended to walk away. When I noticed that the look in her eyes meant she was serious, I walked back to her and said, “I just wanted to congratulate you on your nomination. I thought your performance was spectacular. I even wrote a column about it.” After wishing her good luck, I rejoined my friends.

Back at the table, I sheepishly related the incident to my colleague Jo-Ann Armao. “Oh! She’s horrible,” Armao said in her wonderfully blunt way. She told me that she saw Sidibe at the pre-cocktails and told her that she’d seen “Precious” three times (an amazing emotional feat that only adds to my awe of Armao) and that she thought Sidibe’s performance was “incandescent.” What was Sidibe’s response? “I guess I should say, ‘Thank you.’”

At the MSNBC after party, the partner of a “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” producer said to me, “Look! There’s Gabby Sidibe. I’m going to ask her to take a picture with me.” I warned him, “She’s mean.” To which he said, “I don’t care. I just want a picture.” I didn’t see what went down, but the dejected fan came back and said incredulously, “She said no.” No doubt the constant interruptions and jostling are bothersome. Her ever-shrinking zone of privacy must be irksome, too. And there’s no law that says Sidibe has to show grace to her fans or appreciation for their kind words. But a true star would.

At a dinner for the BET Honors back in January here in Washington, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Oscar-nominated actress and singer Queen Latifah. To be honest, I expected to get the Sidibe treatment. Instead, Latifah was as interesting as she was interested. She greeted fans who came over with a smile and warmth that made people happy they worked up the courage just to say hello. Latifah knows that without fans she has no career. Sidibe’s behavior shows she has yet to learn that.

[From Capehart’s blog post at WaPo]

Yikes, right? I mean, I can’t even find a justification for this, something along the lines of “she was just minding her own business, the guy sounds like an a-hole.” Because she sounds like the a-hole, and Capehart sounds like he was just trying to politely geek out on her because he liked her performance. And they were at a public function – one in which I’m sure Gaby was invited as a guest of a media outlet. The only thing I question is why Capehart – who is black, just FYI – decided that he should compare Gaby’s behavior to Queen Latifah’s? Is that the only other celebrity he’s ever met? Or is it because they’re both black women?

HuffPo also noted this incident, as recounted by MediaBistro:

So, who was the weekend’s biggest (no pun intended) disappointment so far?

FishbowlDC heard the same complaint throughout last night: Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, star of ‘Precious’ was “not so precious at all,” “anything but precious” and some comments were less complimentary than that.

When asked for a picture, the less-than-enthused newbie star could barely crack a smile. One photo-seeking fan said jokingly, “that’s all you’re going to give me,” to the pouty Precious. Gabby responded, “you’ll get what I give you.”

Later in the evening FishbowlDC overheard a Politico reporter asking Gabby for a quick interview. Gabby replied, “one question” and then proceeded to give the reporter a one-word answer. When asked a follow up Q, not-so-Precious said, “sounds like three questions, good night.”

Note to Gabby: You’re already 5 into your 15 minutes of fame so simmer down.

[From Media Bistro]

Ugh. It’s far more likely that Gaby is this person being described, rather than several prominent Washington reporters/bloggers all making up some sh-t about Gaby. So I have my own note to Gaby: it’s okay to be a bitch. It’s okay to stand up for yourself. It’s okay to not be in the mood for fans. But you still need to be a professional when you’re appearing at a public function in which reporters will note your every mood and action. If you don’t want to be bothered, don’t go. I don’t care if you’re uncomfortable, I don’t care if you have yet to learn how to handle your fans and your stardom. Buck up and be a pro, or don’t go. Your attendance is not mandatory. And if you continue to act like this, no will invite you anywhere anyway.

We were all pretty geared up for Gabourey Sidibe to be completely awesome, weren’t we? Well, most of us were. And to her credit, she did give one of the best monologues in recent memory. She started with the premise that everyone feels sympathetic towards her because they think she’s Precious. She went on to sing and dance to a surprisingly awesome song “I’m not Precious, I’m Gabourey”. Gaby has a great voice, and she just seems so bubbly and happy and thrilled to be there, it was difficult not to root for her. Unfortunately, this video isn’t at SNL online or Hulu, so here’s a low-quality version:

Even though I love her, I was slightly disappointed in general with Gaby’s appearance. They didn’t use her as much as, say, Tina Fey two weeks ago. And Gaby flubbed her lines several times. But she did have some really great moments, like the digital short Gaby did with Andy Samberg, which was surprisingly strange and deliciously weird – I give you “Cherry Battle”:

I thought this one was cute one for Gaby too. By the way, why did they make her do so many accents? She was good at some of them (like the one below), but some, not so much:

This was actually my favorite of the night, but it didn‘t include Gaby. Bill Hader is insane, and he’s crazy funny in this one. So funny he cracked himself up. I’ve watched this three times already:

Photos courtesy of NBC & SNL online.

You know Gaby Sidibe is my girl. She was ballsy enough to tell Gerard Butler to his face that she wanted to “hit it”. On the Oscar red carpet, no less. When Gerard responded, “I’m here, I’m available,” Gaby even spun my dream Gerard Butler scenario: “Let’s grab a bottle of champagne and see where the night goes.” She’s an impossible flirt, and she’s f-cking awesome. So of course Saturday Night Live paired Gaby with the cute guy, Andy Samberg, for the promotional videos (note: I also consider Jason Sudekis “the cute guy”). I have to admit, I laughed at every single one of them. I think my favorite one is where Andy is crying on her breasts and she tells him to take off his pants. Chuckle.

Gaby’s appearance comes after months of criticism - about her weight, about her considerable talent, about her positive, upbeat, amazing attitude. Many wondered if Gaby would use SNL to answer her critics, but after seeing the promos, I kind of hope she doesn’t give them the satisfaction. She can be funny and cool without having to address a lot of the bullsh-t that people attack her for. What do you think? Will Gaby rock the SNL casbah?

Sidibe on March 4, 2010. Credit: WENN.

I’m sure this will be yet another piece of news that will incite random people to climb up Gaby Sidibe’s ass, but I think it’s good news! E News reported on Wednesday evening that Gaby has been confirmed as a host for Saturday Night Live, on a date to be announced. Here’s more:

Dear Howard Stern, Gabourey Sidibe is doing just fine, thank you very much!

Despite the shock jock’s controversial remarks that the Precious Oscar-nominee will have trouble getting more work in Hollywood because of her size, a source exclusively tells me that…

Ms. Sidibe is going to be hosting an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live! “It literally just happened,” my source said of the deal.

No word on an exact date yet. Jennifer Lopez hosts this Saturday, followed by Tina Fey and Ryan Phillippe. And as most of us already know, Betty White gets the honors on May 8.

SNL is not—we repeat, not—the only gig Sidibe has scored since her feature film debut. She has a recurring role on Showtime’s upcoming The Big C, about a teacher (Laura Linney) living with cancer. Sidibe plays one of her sassy students. The series, which is set to premiere in August, also costars Oliver Platt.

Sidibe also made a hilarious post-Oscar appearance on E!’s very own, The Soup.

[From E! News]

Now, to anyone who does not believe that Gaby is capable of making people laugh, I give you Gaby’s “I’d hit that” moment with Gerard Butler on the Oscar red carpet, and her subsequent appearance on The Soup (Gabby‘s part starts about half-way through the video):

See? She’s a cool girl. And she’s really funny too! I think hosting SNL will be great for her, although she never seems to be lacking in the confidence department. Which is probably why so many people beat up on her, as I’ve said before. People just can’t get over the fact that she’s not insecure, that she’s not an emotional mess, that she she loves herself. LaineyGossip theorized that Gaby might use her SNL hosting duties to answer her critics, like Stern and others: “Gabby doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘nice‘. And so Gabby can afford to be a little renegade which hopefully means the writing will be strong… Over the last several weeks, Gabby’s weight has become the subject of a huge debate. Howard Stern said that she was too “fat” to be successful. Many blogs criticised that she’s a bad example. Gabby so far has *mostly* declined to answer the hate. Perhaps she’ll be game to tackle the issue on the show.” I kind of hope that she doesn’t address the haters though, you know? I hope she continues to ignore that sh-t, like she’s been doing to well.

Back in the heat of the awards season, Vanity Fair put out its “Hollywood Issue” with a cover featuring up-and-coming actresses. There was some uproar because all of these “up and coming” actresses were 1) white and 2) very skinny. Many pointed to Oscar nominee Gaby Sidibe’s exclusion from the cover as one of the most glaring “snubs”. Gaby handled the whole thing with grace, telling Access Hollywood that she was “happy to be in the magazine…. I think if I were a part of that shoot I would have felt a little left out anyway.”

That controversy was over pretty quickly, and soon people found a million other things to criticize Gaby about. Throughout it all, she’s remained the same upbeat, positive girl, which I think offends some people much more than her weight. The newest controversy is about some comments an unnamed “nasty little fashion queen” made to PopEater’s gossip guy regarding a potential Gaby Sidibe Vogue cover. Beware, this sh-t is not pretty:

Sources tell me that the editors of Vogue magazine rejected the idea of letting Oscar nominee Gabby Sidibe grace its fashionable pages because of her size.

“She’s a joke in the fashion community. What she wore on the red carpet at the Academy Awards wasn’t a dress, it was a tent,” one nasty little fashion queen (who I shall not be talking with again) told me.

“Vogue is venue where designers debut their best new pieces. All are of which are one of a kind and sample size. It would be impossible to get a regular-sized girl in those clothes, let alone Gabby,” a less acid-tongued fashion source explained.

A spokesperson for Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who after a trip to Minnesota said, “I can only kindly describe most of the people that I saw as little houses,” didn’t return calls by deadline.

I say, if Vogue is so buddy-buddy with all the designers, tell them make a dress for Gabby for the next issue. See? Problem fixed. That was easy! And for all of you magazine editors out there, normal people don’t want to see all of these skeleton models — give us the real girls!

[From PopEater]

How about this? We don’t make controversies where none exist. Who the hell was even talking about giving Sidibe a Vogue cover anyway? Because whoever mentioned it was just saying it so they could bash Gaby.

Beyond that, I think this “source” doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Sure, designers’ samples are all sample sized (zero or two), but plenty of designers make “bigger” clothes special order for a Vogue shoot or for a red carpet. Gaby wore lots of designer clothes for her awards season (like Marchesa for her Oscar gown) – and her stylist told media outlets that designers were clamoring to work with her on red carpet looks. What the hell, people? Leave. Gaby. Alone.

Yesterday, I got really pissed off at a diet pill company that was trying to get some extra publicity off of Gaby Sidibe by publicly insulting her and demeaning her talent, saying “The only way you can reach your goal of someday winning that Oscar is by being active, fit and most of all, healthy!” If you wanted to see my defense of Gaby, go here. It was basically like, leave the girl alone, yeah, she should lose some weight, but by calling her out and saying that she can only achieve anything with diet pills and weight loss is idiotic and cheap and insulting.

Anyway, a special interest group has now come to Gaby’s defense, and in my opinion, they made matters worse. The special interest group? The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. NAAFA, bitches. Here’s what they had to say:

Gabourey Sidibe might have a weight problem, but it doesn’t mean she’s unhealthy … this according to the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). Yes, that’s a real group.

As we first reported, a weight loss company is reaching out to the Oscar-nominated “Precious” star in an effort to help her lose weight and get healthy.

But according to a spokeswoman for NAAFA, being heavy doesn’t always mean being unhealthy. Peggy Howell tells TMZ, “You cannot tell by looking at a person if they are healthy. Fat does not equal disease and thin does not equal healthy.”

Howell also said NAAFA does not encourage people to get fat or stay fat and reminded us, “Achievements come in all sizes.”

[From TMZ]

While I agree with the whole “Fat does not equal disease and thin does not equal healthy” stuff, and I definitely agree with the whole “Achievements come in all sizes” stuff, I still think everyone should all take a break from commenting endlessly on Gaby’s figure. Just because you’re trying to champion her, doesn’t make any less gross and patronizing. And what kills me – every time I think about it, actually – is that Gaby is one of the most confident and positive young women out there. I’m starting to think that people are mad at her for not being all insecure, weak and negative about her weight, or by publicly discussing it in any substantive way. She just seems like, “I’m fabulous, take me as I am or don’t, I don’t care.” And maybe that’s why so many people are using her to make their idiotic points.

Okay, it’s really starting to piss me off how everyone is climbing up Gaby Sidibe’s ass about her weight. First it was Howard Stern and random unnamed casting director “sources” who publicly slammed Gaby for her weight. Now it’s a weight loss pill company! They released a statement “encouraging” Gaby to lose weight by taking their product, saying: “The only way you can reach your goal of someday winning that Oscar is by being active, fit and most of all, healthy!” Ugh. Douches.

There has been a big debate about whether Gabourey Sidibe’s weight will hamper her future career, despite her recent Oscar nomination.

Now, one weight loss company has written a letter to the ‘Precious’ star, telling her she needs to worry about her health — not her image, TMZ reports.

AssaiSupply.com has offered the actress a one-year’s supply of their product to help her lose weight.

“The only way you can reach your goal of someday winning that Oscar is by being active, fit and most of all, healthy!” the CEO wrote to Sidibe.

The young star has been the focus of much scrutiny regarding her size.

Howard Stern was recently criticized for lashing out about Sibide weight on his radio show. “There’s the most enormous, fat black chick I’ve ever seen. She is enormous. Everyone’s pretending she’s a part of show business and she’s never going to be in another movie.”

Others, including PopEater’s own Rob Shuter, have been kinder when discussing her present opportunities, yet still believe she’ll have hard time getting cast.

“The type of role this girl wants is going to be very hard for her to get,” Shuter told Joy Behar.

As for PopEater readers, 63 percent of over 15K voters don’t think she has a future in Hollywood.

[From PopEater]

Considering Gaby got an Oscar nomination without diet pills, why would she do the diet pill stuff now? And when will Kentucky Fried Chicken release a statement encouraging Renee Zellweger to have a bucket of chicken, biscuits and gravy because she’s too thin?

Of course, I’m not blind, and I’m not so jaded or “rah-rah sister” that I can’t see that Gaby is a big girl and that her career is going to be hampered by her weight. But she can also act her ass off, she’s an Oscar nominated actress, and she’s got the best attitude of any young actress out there today. She’s confident, she doesn’t take people’s sh-t, she sells herself well, all while coming across as a very sweet and optimistic girl. Can the world find a better way to encourage Gaby to be healthy rather than publicly brow-beating her?

There are a couple of stories about Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe today. I’ll start with the happy feel-good one because I don’t want to get into the negativity right away. Gabby was thrilled to meet her childhood crush, JC Chasez from ‘N Sync, and the two shared a dance together that will hopefully be aired on MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew”! It’s clear that Sidibe, 26, is seeing her dreams come true. I’d love to see this episode of her dancing with Chasez and wonder when it airs!

Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe is soaking up her newfound fame by living out her childhood dream of meeting ex-N*SYNC-erJC Chasez.
A longtime fan of the former boy band, Gaby at one time even expressed that she wanted Justin Timberlake to be her date to the Academy Awards. She instead brought her mom.
But on Tuesday, the ‘Precious’ star did have a chance to dance her heart out with JC at a taping of MTV’s “Randy JacksonPresents America’s Best Dance Crew,” where the former Mouseketeer serves on the judging panel. When she was told that the admiration was mutual between herself and JC, she said, “Wow, what kind of world do I live in now?!”

[From ET Online]

I don’t know a lot about Gabby as she’s new on the scene, but she really won me over when she told Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet at the Oscars that “if fashion were porn this dress would be the money shot.” I love that line! She also enthused recently about Kaiser’s boyfriend, Gerard Butler, and said “I’d hit that!”

In other news, there’s of course the controversy over Howard Stern ragging on Gabby for her weight. Stern refuses to apologize and is sticking to his guns despite widespread condemnation from just about everyone. Kaiser pointed me to this follow-up Stern did on his show in which he’s responding to the fallout from his comments. He doesn’t apologize and keeps talking smack, as can be expected.

Howard said “Obesity in this country is out of control… you do see people now saying it’s ok to be this heavy… I don’t see a difference between what our Artie did… [trying to kill yourself] and I feel this girl in a slower way… she’s going to kill herself. I did enjoy her performance, I have nothing against her… The fact is, she’s enormous.” Then Howard and his sycophant Robin discussed how they were wrong that Gabby wouldn’t get roles due to her weight, and said that they’ve since learned she does have quite a few parts lined up. Robin used that to say that people were somehow rewarding her for being heavy. “That’s more people saying ‘stay this way… we’re hiring you like this.‘” Howard also said that Gabby didn’t really act in Precious and that she just “walked around looking out of it.”

Howard and Robin are so wrong. So we have an epidemic of overweight and obese people in America, and somehow that means we should never embrace less than a handful of actors and actresses who represent a significant portion of the population because it means that we’re somehow condoning it? Actors and actresses are tiny compared to the rest of the country and while we like to look at gorgeous skinny people we also want to see people that represent us and our friends and family. Not everyone is perfect-looking and we want more than just one actress who can play a heavier person of color. I guess I understand why this is some kind of stupid controversy, whipped to a frenzy by the king of sh*t stirring, but it seems so overblown. This is a talented actress who happens to be obese. We need someone to play those parts and it’s up to her if she loses weight or not. Of course her health is at risk, but she knows that and it’s just mean to keep harping on it like she has no right to earn accolades for her acting ability.