Race row over 'King Kong' Vogue cover
The cover of the latest issue of Vogue magazine is always eagerly awaited as a guide to trends and styles. And when the fashion bible announced that a black man would grace that space for the first time in the magazine's 116-year history, there was already extra interest in its April issue.
But the picture of the basketball star, LeBron James, towering over the Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen, has made the kind of headlines that even Anna Wintour, the magazine's publicity-conscious British editor, was probably not expecting.
The image has provoked allegations of racial stereotyping, with some critics saying the image of James, his teeth bared in a mixture of a roar and a growl, is "ape-like".
The hulking 6ft 9in sportsman bounces a basketball with one hand and holds the waist of 5ft 11in Miss Bundchen with the other. Several critics have commented on parallels with the well-known image of King Kong, clutching the terrified form of actress Fay Wray - although on the Vogue cover Miss Bundchen is laughing, and is clearly not trapped by his hands.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
But the picture of the basketball star, LeBron James, towering over the Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen, has made the kind of headlines that even Anna Wintour, the magazine's publicity-conscious British editor, was probably not expecting.The image has provoked allegations of racial stereotyping, with some critics saying the image of James, his teeth bared in a mixture of a roar and a growl, is "ape-like".
The hulking 6ft 9in sportsman bounces a basketball with one hand and holds the waist of 5ft 11in Miss Bundchen with the other. Several critics have commented on parallels with the well-known image of King Kong, clutching the terrified form of actress Fay Wray - although on the Vogue cover Miss Bundchen is laughing, and is clearly not trapped by his hands.