Anna Wintour has been somewhat unproblematic about the pandemic. Her son is a doctor, so she took the pandemic seriously early on. At Conde Nast publications, they encouraged their employees to work from home whenever possible. Anna personally encouraged mask-wearing from the start. She may be tone-deaf about almost everything, but there wasn’t much to criticize about her pandemic behavior. Except that Vogue is still gonna Vogue, which included greenlighting a sappy article and photo editorial of a glamorous, well-attended wedding in Martha’s Vineyard. The article got pulled when there were complaints, especially given that the wedding in question was likely the source of a spike in Covid cases in Martha’s Vineyard.
Vogue abruptly pulled a piece from its Web site that gushed over a Martha’s Vineyard destination wedding — after it was discovered that the nuptials were potentially a superspreader event on the tony enclave. On Monday, Vogue posted “This Outdoor Martha’s Vineyard Wedding Was All Fall Elegance,” about the wedding of an NYC beauty publicist and a financial analyst. By Tuesday, the article was removed. The piece was reportedly 1,000 words with 68 photos.
A high-powered attorney on the island sent an angry e-mail to Anna Wintour, blasting her mag for “praising” the event, which the Vineyard Gazette covered as the potential origin of the uptick in COVID-19 cases in the area. A spokesperson for Vogue explained to Page Six that the story was taken down before the e-mail, but that someone else had been in contact and “an editorial decision (which of course Anna is involved in) was made.”
The rep added that as part of the coverage, “our edit team ensured that appropriate measures were being taken to prevent the spread … However, as no gathering has zero risk, we found out afterward that guests had contracted COVID-19 — and believe they did at the wedding.”
A local told us, “Celebs and powerful people here on the island are pissed off at Anna for featuring the wedding … It’s been a safe place and people were upset.” Another angry local added, “It glorified having a wedding with people during COVID. A potential bride reading that article could think, ‘Gee whiz, I could do it just like that and we won’t have any problem.’ [The article could have had] a real benefit if Vogue disclosed that despite the fact that precautions were taken, people were exposed.”
While many seem to blame this specific ceremony, a local health official told us, “I can only confirm that a wedding was held on Martha’s Vineyard in October that resulted in 10 positive cases, eight of them on the island. Whether or not this wedding was the root cause of infections on the island has not been determined.”
Was this all Anna Wintour’s fault? Of course not. There’s enough blame to go around – to the bride and groom who insisted on throwing their wedding in the middle of a pandemic, to the Vogue staffers who apparently were on the ground to cover the wedding, and to all of the people who put together the Vogue piece, none of whom stopped to think “is this a terrible message to be sending?” And “are we killing people just to showcase a glamorous wedding in a pandemic?” The fact that this wedding was probably a superspreader event… well. I really don’t get it with the big weddings, people. Like, if you just *have* to get married this year (or next year), just do it with a handful of people and wear masks and do it that way. You shouldn’t start your married life by infecting dozens of people with a deadly virus.
(Oh, and since this wedding, the island has had 118 positive cases.)
Vogue described the October event as "This outdoor wedding on Martha’s Vineyard was all fall elegance.” The Martha's Vineyard Times reported, "Photos showed very few people wearing masks, and guests sitting elbow-to-elbow." Result: super-spreader event. https://t.co/cH9NVXSHKE
— Walter Shapiro (@MrWalterShapiro) November 19, 2020
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, IG.
i”m wondering if the couples that have big super spreader weddings think about the fall out and death due to their selfishness on their yearly anniversaries?
Probably not. If they cared about anyone but themselves, they would have postponed their wedding.
There was a wedding here in Maine that turned into a HUGE super spreader event throughout the state eventually including outbreaks in care homes and a jail and the couple involved and their pastor just doubled down on cover-hoax-but-our-religious-freedumb trash.
And 7 people died, none of whom had been to the wedding. Was reading an article just today by the president of a local university, written to the larger university community, regarding staying safe during the holiday season, and the dangers of large, or any, get togethers outside of your specific bubble. He used that Maine wedding as an example of potential consequences.
Heard about that wedding as far away as Australia. The entitlement and selfishness are just astonishing. When we think of the sacrifice of our parents and grandparents during wars… they’d be appalled.
So surprised no-one has sued the bride and groom and the church yet – especially those who weren’t wedding guests who caught it, or who lost family members because of it.
Since BLM, Vogue has been thirsty to add diversity. Black couples wedding was a super spreader. They could have used Elaine Welteroth, a former Vogue editor, beautiful outdoor wedding.Oops , I forgot that Anna didn’t trust her and added a few white co-editors
@Chica1971 ‘Vogue has been thirsty to add diversity’ — totally agree.
Was curious about the wedding and found some info from the local paper Martha’s Vineyard Times: https://www.mvtimes.com/2020/11/18/vogue-story-raises-cluster-questions/
I mean was the 14 person wedding amidst the pandemic problematic? Probably. Was the fact that a Black couple and 12 other Black family and friends rolled into Martha’s Vineyard also a reason people got upset? Probably. None of it sounds good.
This article says it was 100 guests.
https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2020/11/18/vogue-story-vineyard-wedding-connected-case-cluster-quickly-taken-down
@Mumbles. The article you cite actually says ‘The bride opted for an outdoor event at the Lambert’s Cove Inn instead, downsizing her guest list by 100 people, according to the story.’ So she cut 100 people from the guest list and there was a 17 person maximum allowed.
You are correct, I was wrong. Not clear how many people were there. Probably more than 17, as that was the limit for the indoor venue, which the couple opted not to do.
According to the local article TQ cited above, there were 35 guests at Lambert’s Cove. The couple had moved the wedding from its previously booked venue in Edgartown, because that venue told them they would be limited to 17 guests.
Anyone with a brain knows not to cover a wedding durning a pandemic. If Vogue is that desperate to showcase diversity they need to bring in some experts because they don’t know what the fck they are doing.
I am reading about so many people having huge weddings (Maine, Washington, Cincinnati, etc.) during the pandemic and then being shocked- SHOCKED – that their wedding was a superspreader event. The Maine wedding caused a huge surge in cases across the state and even resulted in multiple people dying (people who didn’t even attend the wedding but ended up being infected by guests who got it from the wedding).
It is so damn selfish.
Yep, because these couples can’t be bothered by a pesky virus. They’re just not going to let it ruin their special day. Ugh. Yes, extremely selfish. I’ve read about so many of these weddings turning into super spreader events….& still, people keep having these large weddings. Anyway, I think two people running off, eloping is the ultimate in romantic. I wish the various media would cover elopement (if that’s possible) & make it a “thing,” then everybody might all want to elope.
68 pictures of a wedding? Does anyone care about someone else’s wedding that much?!?
I’m glad they pulled the piece, even if it was stupid and tone-deaf to feature it to begin with. What would be better, if they need to feature a wedding, is to feature someone who was going to have a big wedding but scaled way back and drastically changed their whole event because of covid (like going from 200 guests to 5 or something) but still managed to have a lovely, personal wedding. Show people how to responsibly get marred in 2020 (and then have a big anniversary party next year!)
The sad thing is that it sounds like this is what it was intended to be – a 300 person wedding reduced to 35 people outdoors – which sounds safe but it wasn’t. It was about 30 people too many. Though to be fair, there was a wedding at the same location the day before (& possibly Friday as well) either of which also could have been the super spreader event. They just didn’t have a Vogue spread . . .
It seems like right now no amount of gatherings are safe because this virus is raging. Vogue is elitist and thinks the people they cover are above it all, which obviously isn’t the case. Not surprised if this event resulted in cases because people will let their guard down. My SIL family has an outdoor venue that was hosting micro weddings, but have had to cancel a ton of them because of the recent upsurge and new state restrictions ( Oregon). As for Wintour, it’s her job as editor to make these decisions.Remember how she had to pull that article praising the Syrian dictator’s wife after singing her praises as civil war broke out in Syria and we see what that led to. Apropos of nothing she looks like a meerkat in that mask.
I realize it is a fashion magazine, but when i read this and understood that they planned to do the feature- without mentioning COVID- what assholes. Head in the sand.
I am sick of the brides and grooms talking points about how they “weren’t thinking about covid” and “everyone was having a good time”.
Basing your marriage on a day where your gathering brings death to people you love, and later to people you’ve never met b/c people they came into contact with got it at your wedding- how is that a blessed union you are proud of?
My sister was supposed to be a bridesmaid at a wedding Halloween weekend in Texas (a wedding that had already been delayed by six months). She opted not to go as it would involve flying. Her friend called her up, basically trying to guilt her into coming. My sister felt bad but stood firm.
I saw the pictures later on social media, no social distancing, people hugging, dancing, etc. I’m still waiting to hear that some of the guests got covid at the wedding. It’s been about two weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised if it made national news.
A doctor on my street held a wedding for his sister in law when the country club rightly canceled it there. We got a note a few days before that everyone would wear masks and stay six feet apart. Cut to social media where photos of the wedding showed up and none of that was happening. This guy is the head of a OBGyn practice too. And the bride owns a salon.
Selfish a-holes.
Kudos to the angry neighbors who mowed their Iawns or revved their cars when the ceremony was taking place.