Thursday, December 26, 2019

The most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2019

After reviewing the most controversial foreign magazine covers of 2019, it’s time to recap the most controversial U.S. magazine covers of the year.
What follows is a group of magazines that triggered, outraged and upset readers for various reasons.

Social media goes nuts whenever celebrities don’t stay in their lane. Social justice warriors and societal snowflakes lose their shit whenever a celeb looks like they’re borrowing their look or style from another group’s culture.
Kim Kardashian West was accused of “blackfishing” with her darkened skin tone on the winter cover of 7Hollywood magazine. Blackfishing is darkening one’s complexion and changing hair styles to pretend to be of African-American descent for social media purposes.
Other critics cried cultural appropriation or accused her of blackface.
(See articles by NBC News, BuzzFeed, WTOP, Insider, Harper’s Bazaar, Mirror and ScreenRant.)


Actress Jennifer Aniston faced a similar backlash for her October cover of InStyle magazine. She was accused of blackfishing for her ultra-tanned skin.
(See articles by Los Angeles Times, NBC News, the Grio, Celebrity Insider, the Tab, the Hollywood Reporter and Cosmopolitan.)


Memphis Magazine halted distribution of its September issue after its cover illustration was perceived as racist. Critics said the caricatures of two black mayoral candidates reinforced demeaning tropes. (See articles by WREG and the Commercial Appeal.)


Conservative Christians were outraged by Parents magazine featuring a gay couple with their children on its cover for the first time. The men and their two toddlers were on the cover of the February issue.
(See articles by LGBTQ Nation, Towleroad, Friendly Atheist, Yahoo Lifestyle, Pride and MarketWatch.)


The mayor of Dearborn, Mich., stopped distribution of a historical magazine paid for by the city after it published a cover story about Henry Ford’s history of antisemitism. Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly also terminated the contract of The Dearborn Historian magazine editor Bill McGraw.
(See articles by Columbia Journalism Review, Cleveland Jewish News, Deadline Detroit and the Daily Mail.)


Time magazine was accused of manufacturing news with its June 24 cover story about the impact of climate change on Pacific islands. The cover showed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres standing in thigh deep water on the coast of Tuvalu with the cover text “Rising Seas. Fleeing Residents. Disappearing Villages. Our Sinking Planet.”
The article said the island nation is sinking when scientific studies indicate that it’s not. (See article by the Daily Caller.)


Rolling Stone magazine’s March cover story was derided by conservatives as partisan wish fulfillment. The cover featured four Democratic congresswomen with the title “Women Shaping The Future.”
(See responses to the cover on Twitter and articles and comments on Breitbart and the Daily Mail.)


In June, Rolling Stone magazine got people talking with its cover of singer Halsey showing her unshaven armpits.
(See articles by the Daily Mail, Celebrity Insider and Fox News.)


Esquire stepped on a hornets’ nest by releasing a cover story on a white boy’s struggles during Black History Month. The article for the March cover was titled “An American Boy: What it’s like to grow up white, middle class, and male in the era of social media, school shootings, toxic masculinity, #MeToo, and a divided country.”
(See articles by the New York Post, Daily Mail, CBS News, Chicago Tribune and the Guardian.)


Failed Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke kicked off his campaign with a cover story in Vanity Fair magazine. He later said he regretted doing so because it reinforced the perception of his “privilege.” The cover photo evoked a similar cover by Time magazine featuring a soon-to-be-president Ronald Reagan.
(See articles by Quartz, Washington Examiner, the Hill and USA Today.)


Liberals freaked out when WholeFoods Magazine named U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky and Senate majority leader, as its “2019 Person of the Year.” Then they learned that trade magazine WholeFoods (no space) is not affiliated with upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market. The magazine gave McConnell the honor for his work to legalize hemp.
(See articles by AdWeek and the Blaze.)


Readers felt a cover story in The Washington Post Magazine dated March 10 glamorized and fetishized guns. (See article in the Washington Post.)


Singer Nick Jonas faced a backlash for appearing on the cover of Cigar Aficionado magazine for the September-October issue. Fans said he’s a role model who shouldn’t be promoting smoking.
(See articles by iHeartRadio, Yahoo Entertainment, Teen Vogue, Fox News and the Independent.)


Paper magazine disturbed readers with its latest cover featuring comic actor Pete Davidson as a dickless Ken doll.
(See articles by Cosmopolitan, InStyle and ET.)


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