While in the supermarket, I was browsing the magazine rack when I saw a curious thing. Vanity Fair’s New Women of Hollywood cover, which was shot by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz did not include any women of color. “Hmm,” I wondered, where was Zoe Saldana, of Avatar and Star Trek? Where was Gabby Sidibe, the Oscar-nominated actress from Precious? And I wasn’t the only one
“Access Hollywood’s” Shaun Robinson took note of the cover — which does include Kristen Stewart, Abby Cornish and Anna Kendrick among the nine actresses featured — and blogged about her concerns. Robinson wrote, “This year, we’re going to see our most diverse Oscars red carpet in years. We should see that respected on television and in our magazine covers.”
Point taken, but according to reps for Vanity Fair, the process of choosing who to include in the Hollywood issue is one that involves careful consideration about an actress’ body of work, which might disqualify newcomer Sidibe, for example.
The magazine says that there are other practical considerations, too, such as which actresses are able to physically appear for the photo shoot, which takes place in a single day. Although Vanity Fair offered no comment regarding actresses of color who were approached, but the magazine did issue the following statement:
“Deciding who will appear on the Hollywood issue cover — and within the issue itself — is a long process, and one we take seriously,” said a representative for Vanity Fair. “For the young actresses on the cover, … films coming out this year and past work were taken into consideration, as were schedules and availability, since we had to shoot all nine actresses in a single day.”
I can accept all of that as valid reasons not to include Gabby Sidibe. But here is Zoe Saldana, star of Avatar highest grossing movie in history. Come on Vanity Fair you got to do better!
