Amy Schumer covers Vogue, wants to ‘redefine’ how the game is played

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Why have I been feeling for months now that Amy Schumer is sort of “over”? It’s not that people have stopped paying attention to her (that’s still happening), but it feels like interest in Schumer already peaked (last year) and now she’s on the wane. She replaced Lena Dunham as the “controversial” person we were supposed to care about, and now? I just feel like Schumer has one-note and people are tired of it already. But I guess Vogue didn’t get the message, because here she is on the cover of their July issue. You can read the full interview (by Jonathan Van Meter) here. She’s shilling for her new book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. Some highlights:

Her hustle: “I wouldn’t know what motivates Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. This insatiable drive. I have it too. Sometimes I feel like they’re hustling, they want something, and they’re not going to stop until they get it, and they play the game. I am very into making up my own rules. Like, I don’t want to play the game and succeed at it. I want to redefine it. That’s the only way I can deal with it. Maybe that’s naïve.”

She doesn’t get fashion: “I don’t think it’s stupid; there’s no moral reasoning. It’s just not my thing. I just have this sense of entitlement that I should be able to feel comfortable at all times, like I could go to bed at any moment in what I’m wearing.”

Her feminism & liberalism: “I have this innate need to say things that I think are important for people to hear. And I can’t stand injustice, so even if it makes people uncomfortable, I’m not afraid enough to conflict to keep my mouth shut.”

Taking care of herself & love: She is a devoted practitioner of TM, avails herself to weekly acupuncture sessions, doesn’t touch caffeine, juices every morning, and enforces a prayer circle with her family and crew before each show. She is also seriously involved with Ben Hanisch, a 29-year-old furniture designer in Chicago. “We’re in love,” she says. “And we’re still in a total honeymoon phase. It’s a real relationship. Who knows what will happen, but we’re real good right now.”

[From Vogue]

I feel like a bad person because I didn’t even care enough about this to read the full interview. I rarely do that! I always read the interview. But I’m just going off the quotes Vogue sent to us, and I think that’s the way to do it: I’m okay with Schumer if I take her in small doses. And hey, it is nice to see someone on the cover of Vogue who isn’t a size 2. Even if Schumer sort of lies about her size a lot?

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Photos courtesy of Annie Leibovitz / Vogue.

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91 Responses to “Amy Schumer covers Vogue, wants to ‘redefine’ how the game is played”

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  1. Katie says:

    RIP Vogue.

    • meme says:

      American Vogue died the minute Anna put Kimye on the cover.

      • Jegede says:

        @meme

        Uh-oh. That means British Vogue will be dying soon!!!

        (Lol, I’m being facetious btw. Not that serious for me)

      • Josefina says:

        That was the last nail on the coffin, but American Vogue stopped being a serious fashion mag waaaay before that. It’s been a women’s lifestyle/celebrity gossip mag for decades, the only difference being they spend more on editorials.

        If you wanna read a real fashion mag with interesting and creative editorials, check Numéro. MUCH better.

      • Alex says:

        Yea agreed. Not surprised Vogue put her on the cover now when no one cares one iota about Amy.

      • ladysussex says:

        I so agree.

      • lili says:

        Please, Vogue died when they decided to put actors on covers and that was a long time before Kim Kardashian.
        People seriously need to stop blaming everything on the Kardashian.

  2. Mia V. says:

    When someone says “I want to redefine”, forget it, you won’t. People who redefine things don’t waste time talking about it, they do, just look for examples out there.

    • Kitten says:

      Mmmmhmmm yeah.
      For instance the weight thing–she wants to redefine what is a “normal” size in Hollywood but I’m not sure if you accomplish that by making your weight a constant focus.
      Like, Melissa McCarthy does a better job of that because she doesn’t harp on her weight. She doesn’t whine and complain, she goes out and creates her own plus size clothing label. She uses her physicality in her comedy for sure, but she doesn’t let her size define her.

      Amy’s not wrong in her message and her ambitions, but I’m just not buying what she’s selling.

    • Jegede says:

      @Mia V

      And it tends to happen organically.

    • Lucy says:

      She just will never be “it” I think. Yes she is semi popular and people know her name but I think she’s trying too hard to play into the “Jennifer Lawrence I’m a relatable everyday one of you normal people” and it’s not coming off well on the vast majority, most people find her annoying. My immediate reaction when I see her is an eye roll.

    • Esmom says:

      Exactly. And it’s pretty damn condescending/delusional for her to dismiss Fey and Louis-Dreyfus as simply “playing the game” as if they haven’t been groundbreaking — not to mention highly talented — and in many respects paved the way for Schumer.

      • Kitten says:

        Yeah that was shade right? I had to re-read that.

      • Mia V. says:

        They were redefining the game without talking about it.

      • Tonka says:

        It read like shade to me too. Perhaps Fey and JLD are worthy of criticism, but they are also phenomenally talented and hard working. To tag them with “playing the game” makes it feel like their accomplishments are somehow less, or perhaps at the expense of the average woman, and I’m not convinced that’s true. I don’t get the sense they have totally bought into the system. I feel like they try to subvert it from the inside out. I think that’s a legitimate strategy.

        I don’t know why I don’t like Amy anymore. Is it my own inherent misogyny? Maybe. Something about her seems unlikeable in a way that I can’t put my finger on.

      • Zuzus Girl says:

        Yes, the dissing of other female writer/ producer/ comedians who have years in the “game” is beyond condescending and flat out rude. She doesn’t have the credentials or longevity to be so dismissive. She could learn a thing or two from Fayes humility and self- depreciation. Because of Faye female comics are taken more seriously and are more respected by her peers and the public. Dreyfus as well. I liked her okay in Train Wreck but don’t care for her in interviews and she just lost me with that. And btw, it is not misogny to not like a particular woman. We are not all created equal or even likeable.

    • almondmilk says:

      Was it necessary to get digs in at Tina Fey and JLD?

      I would say they ‘redefined’ the game way more than you Amy Schumer, and they didn’t sell out or get where they are by stealing jokes.

      http://jezebel.com/comedian-who-accused-amy-schumer-of-stealing-a-joke-say-1754388840

      • Alarmjaguar says:

        I was thinking just this morning about how important Tina Fey has been to current political discussions — I keep seeing that meme about Hillary and how ‘bitches get shit done.’ That’s Amy and Tina giving us a language to redefine and imagine powerful women. Take about redefining the game!

    • Ronaldinhio says:

      yeah….the I;m cool with people doing their thing and being whatever size they choose to be schtick – which could not have been further from the truth for how she feels about herself

      God forbid they suggest that she might be a lady that inspires us to be us in a magazine whilst also celebrating women of differing sizes

      She seemed such a blardy idiot pretending to be a small size. She isn’t a model. She is a plump comedian. She should celebrate all that she has…and grow a thicker skin to cover her delightfully well upholstered hide

  3. Kitten says:

    That pic of her in the trench coat is really cool.

    I read the excerpts and I didn’t find anything inherently wrong with what she said but she’s still a big NO for me.
    I feel like I *should* like her but something about her just feels….disingenuous.
    Full disclosure: I’m not familiar with her show or her work. I only know her from what I read in this forum. Maybe I’d like her more if I saw her comedy? Eh. I’m rambling..

    • lisa2 says:

      I like the bench picture.. not the cover.. Vogue puts too many people in Red on the cover. I don’t get that. She has the tiniest mouth. It throws off her face a bit for me. It’s like a baby doll’s mouth.

    • Erinn says:

      I like the trenchcoat picture too! I want a trench coat haha – but I’d need to get one tailored – 5’2″ and you look like you’re drowning in it.

      My main issue with Amy is that she just… looks mean. Like – I can’t look at her and see a fun girlfriend, you know? Like… she just looks like someone who’s no fun. And when she’s trying to look like she’s super fun to be around … it always seems forced.

      • Kitten says:

        That’s why I look ridiculous in trenches. And I’m 5’5″ but I have a short torso.
        Suits and trenches make me look like a child playing dress-up for some reason. I’ll stick to my leather jackets 😉

      • Kitten says:

        oops double post somehow

      • Erinn says:

        Bahaha -that’s exactly what I’ve been rocking since I could put away my parka.

      • Adrien says:

        Her comedy style now reminds me of Chelsea Handler’s style.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        I’m curvy and short waisted so I look like a pillow with a belt around it in a trench coat. So annoying because I love them.

    • Esmom says:

      I’m with you. I think she’s sensitive and try hard while pretending she’s not, and also seems to have a mean streak. She really rubs me the wrong way.

    • carol says:

      That trench coat pic should have been the cover. I like the fact that she upfront about not caring about fashion, or not getting it. I feel like many celebs want to pretend that they care about it when they actually don’t.

    • littlemissnaughty says:

      I saw Trainwreck, some Inside Amy Schumer stuff and a few interviews. One of those roundtables among them. My problem with her is that I don’t believe her. She tries to be self-deprecating and a super feminist but I don’t buy it. It always looks and sounds like an act, as if she really doesn’t believe she’s average looking etc. She did a “I’m actually hot, I’m feeling myself.” bit in one of her acts IIRC and I couldn’t decide if she was making fun of herself or was serious but hiding behind a joke. I mean good for her if she thinks she’s the sh*t but then don’t base your entire act on the opposite. It’s very weird. As GNAT pointed out above, when she got upset about being called … plus size or whatever, I thought “Oh damn, she thinks she’s better than us.”

      Now, Tina Fey and JLD on the other hand? They seem genuine.

    • SmartyPants says:

      You know, I used to love Amy. I watched the first season of her show and though it was refreshing because she touched on a lot of important feminist issues that nobody else would in comedy, like military rape. I thought that was important. I’ve been watching the latest season and it’s just not that good; she’s fading like cheap hair dye for me.

      But the JLD and Tina thing caught me off guard. I think she was asked that because of a skit on her show she did with both of them and Patricia Arquette. It was funny, but not because of Amy, as many of you can imagine, and I remember her fangirling them publicly back then. The quote seemed like it was tossing shade but also like she was asked specifically about her idols.

      All that said, she’s mean. She’s also defensive and when people disagree with her or call her on her BS she has a nasty habit of taking the low road. Like, she’s self-important enough to think she can change the game but doesn’t realize you don’t do that by being snotty to your detractors or making points thoughtlessly and abrasively. There’s a way to disrupt everything, but my inkling is that you have to be smart, genuine and strategic to get it done.

    • Fiorella says:

      Her stuff is ok! I like the long one on YouTube titles black guys and Asian girls (it’s long and it’s not all about one thing ) also there’s one where people are comparing dogs that’s pretty cute.

    • Bella bella says:

      The latest season of her show is pretty good — maybe even better than the first. She’s really been doing a no-holds-barred skewering of the female experience/politics/society.

  4. Micki says:

    So which one is more comfortable in bed: the red dress or the camel trench?

    • boredblond says:

      I’ve noticed on red carpets, even when she’s in the most simple dress, she never wears any jewelry. .maybe that’s part of the bed thing? I do like the trench..have always adored my long coats

  5. Jegede says:

    There MUST have been a better face shot surely!

    Looks like a 2.0 version of that Kate Perry Vogue cover
    http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/katy-perry/katy-perry-covers-vogue-july-2013-872121

  6. HeidiM says:

    Nope

  7. Winner says:

    I find her really anoying
    And fake.

  8. Narak says:

    I don’t see why so much shade is being thrown at her. She works hard in a male dominated field and flys the feminist flag high.

    • Mia V. says:

      But if she is annoying or not that funny should we let it pass cause she’s a woman in a male dominated field?

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      I find her false. She was all body positivity is everything until someone implied that she was plus size, then she had a temper tantrum about being called fat.

      • Amide says:

        @GNAT – Yeah that was an eye opener

      • Wilma says:

        Plus what Tig Notaro implied in her recent Guardian interview that Amy Schumer might have been one of her fake friends when Tig was dealing with cancer.

      • Saks says:

        She lost me when just after Trump’s inicial controversial comments about Mexicans, she joked about Latino men being rapist and Latinas being crazy. Bad timing and worst execution.

    • Bella bella says:

      Agree. Her latest skits on her show have been very ballsy.

  9. Kate says:

    She’s just not that interesting. Her show is often interesting, but the more I hear from her the more it becomes clear that all the best parts of it are coming from the writers room and not at all from her.

    Someone like Dunham at least had a hook, precocious daughter of famous artists makes a movie and a much talked about TV show in her early twenties, but Amy’s just sort of there. Once you get sick of her weirdness about her body, there’s nothing else worth talking about.

    • Lisa says:

      Would you say that about a male comedian that it’s all the writers hard work? One could equally say the same about Tony Hancock and yet one never ever hears that. She obviously has a big say in what sketches are used, having written them or not

      • Kate says:

        Yes, I would, and have. She’s hardly the first comedian who’s scripted material far surpasses their own material. Ricky Gervais is probably the most obvious example, take away Stephen Merchant and you’ve just got an odious, mean little man who laughs harder at his own jokes than anyone else ever could.

        I’ve watched a lot of Amy’s standup, I’ve read all her big profiles and interviews, and not once has she said anything remotely as interesting or intelligent as one of her shows more mediocre sketches. In fact she often says stupid crap that her own show calls people out for saying. The writers who’ve worked on her show on the other hand are often brilliant.

        She’s good at choosing material, but she’s given credit for far far more than that.

  10. meme says:

    she’s a bore and a fake. for someone who doesn’t care about fashion, why are you posing in Vogue? A FASHION magazine. Her and Lena Dumbham need to go away forever.

    • JenniferJustice says:

      Thank you. Could those two be any more transparent in their admonishing of the beauty standard while trying so hard to be that beauty standard. If I see one more picture of this one in clothing with ruching in the abdomen or laying on her back so all her “extra” sinks…all the while talking vehemently about how proud she is of her body….I’m going to vomit.

      She talked herself into a corner, but she should Just get the plastic surgery we all know she wants so badly – just get it over with. Time won’t make us forget, so go ahead and do it now. We all know what you really want.

  11. Mandy says:

    In my circle of friends Amy isn’t over. I love her and still think 12 Angry Men was one of the best eps I’ve ever seen of any show. I don’t have to love everything she says and does to be a fan.

  12. amanda says:

    I really really want Margot Robbie to change her mind and have Amy Schumer play Tonya Harding in that upcoming movie. Aside from my completely out there casting change wish, I find her uninteresting.

  13. sooo her lips are a meme on the innerNATS that says, and I quote:

    “if your lips looks like this …DONT YOU DARE try to tell me what to do” LMAO

    #dead #aliveanddeadagain

  14. Sumodo1 says:

    This Vogue cover article AND the Tig Notaro situation have me feeling that Amy needs to evaluate her PR right away. She’s got her new episodes of “Inside Amy Schumer” airing right now and she’s coming off very badly.

  15. Penelope says:

    “I have this innate need to say things that I think are important for people to hear.”

    So pretentious. Get over yourself.

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      Gag.

    • carol says:

      Right? I like Amy but that statement is just so pretentious.

    • Pip says:

      Bahahahaha. God I love people who take themselves so seriously – endlessly entertaining. Get over yourself.

    • Shiba says:

      Right…but was there ever an explanation for why your new BF thought dressing up as an African-American for a costume party was appropriate – where was your incisive explanation for that?
      I know people were waiting to be enlightened.

  16. Amide says:

    The cover is just unfortunate. It seems like they were trying to go for wistful sexiness, but Amy just looks like she’s in a parody in one of her own shows!

  17. JenniferJustice says:

    Way to try to put yourself in the same category as Tina Fey and Julie Louis-Dreyfus…as if!!!
    And I’m pretty sure Tina Fey and Amy Pohler already redefined female power in comedy. They shook up SNL, got their own T.V. shows, and made multiple movies together w/out leaning on any male comedy stars. Schumer hasn’t done anything new or changed anything about female power in show biz. Saying your not afraid enough of conflict to keep your mouth shut is basically saying you like conflict. Not that I didn’t already know that….

    I’m tired of her “redefining” talk while photoshopping her gut out of pics and laying in weird positions that flatten her. We’re not stupid. And they can stop trying to make her some kind of sophisticated engenue. She is just a loud crass attention-seeking woman who doesn’t exercise. I don’t want to hear that she does. She doesn’t and it’s obvious.

    • Tonka says:

      I think this might be what’s bothering me. She identifies with their insatiable drive but then says they’re hustling and playing the game to satiate it. Where she really loses me is how she implies she’s elevating the game by redefining the rules. There’s this subtext of desperation in how she portrays Fey’s and JLD ambition that I find offputting.

  18. Josefina says:

    What is she saying about Fey and JLD exactly? That they are sell-outs? That comment really confused me.

    I wanted to like Amy at first, but I got tired of her schtick really fast. Other than finding her unfunny, she’s just so pretentious about everything she does.

    • Bella bella says:

      I’m confused because one of her sketches in last year’s show had this fantasy table of fabulous women including JLD, Patricia Arquette, I think Tina Fey was there, too.

  19. Ally8 says:

    “…enforces a prayer circle with her family and crew before each show.”

    What the what? I hope this is a non-denominational, football player kind of “help us be awesome at our dopey comedy show”, Madonna in Truth or Dare, kind of prayer, or enjoy your inevitable lawsuit, you bullying creep.

    • Kitten says:

      LOL your last sentence made me snort.
      Yeah I was a bit sidelined by the prayer circle thing too….like, she literally MAKES her crew pray? Or is it (as you implied) just a ra-ra-ra let’s do this kind of thing?

  20. Sigh... says:

    Where/when is the “redefining” coming in?

    What is she doing that’s somehow different from Fey & JLD beside the social media fights? Fey has movie (theater and streaming) success and a couple of bestselling books, both Fey and JLD have tremendous, long-running, prolific television success and had magazine covers/features. Schumer has movie and lukewarm television success (her show has lost momentum in it’s 2nd season), is shilling a book, and is doing covers/features. What’s the difference in definition?

    • Flowerchild says:

      Who knows….. She seems to have gotten really full of herself that she thinks she some how better then them.

      Amy we see you hustling and your so far into the “game” you can’t even see the light of day.

  21. I Choose Me says:

    Lemme say something nice. She looks great in that shade of red and that dress is flattering to her figure. I also like the pic of her in that camel coloured trench coat. It contrasts nicely with all that lovely green in the background.

  22. Jh says:

    Ooof. That’s some unfortunate styling.

  23. Brittney B. says:

    This week, all I’m going to say is this: I’m grateful for her work with her cousin Chuck. I hope they keep at it.

  24. poppy says:

    love her but she did not come across well at all here.

  25. KBeth says:

    Why does she lie about her size/weight??
    I think she has a great curvy body.
    I really find her face off putting though, it’s just kind of pinched looking.

    • Shiba says:

      You know, she’s probably not lying. The camera adds 10-15 lbs and depending on what brand you wear, sizes vary pretty widely.
      Eddie Bauer runs huge for women; Gap and Lands End are also generously sized…but, as others have said, she handled the issue poorly.
      She could use some graciousness.

  26. Sammy_dog says:

    Just go away, already.

  27. Goodnight says:

    ..and she’s not shilling because she’s so above playing the game? What an idiot.

  28. shannon says:

    I think that’s a horrible cover for her….acupuncture, doesn’t touch caffeine, juices every morning….. not sure why this quote was even included in the interview, unless it was meant to be one of those “ten things you didn’t know about Amy Schumer.” I think she’s said a lot of good stuff, but I also think she’s very insecure, even though she tries VERY hard to put it out there like she isn’t.

  29. Lex says:

    No I still really like her!
    Her sketches are so funny.
    The one where she is angry because her mum can’t use her laptop is my life – every office I’ve been in, older people act like that haha

    Not all her sketches are winners (noone’s ever are!) but overall, they’re witty and funny and cheeky. A lot of hate directed towards her is gender based – even from people who claim to be pro-woman. It’s so ingrained, they can’t even see it. And will get very defensive at the very accusation.