The top news story of 2020 was the Covid-19 pandemic, hands down. So, when it came time to select a person or persons of the year, Time magazine picked frontline health-care workers; vaccine developers or Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, right?
No. For some crazy reason, the editors of Time chose President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The two haven’t done anything yet and won’t take office until Jan. 20, 2021. That’s next year, of course.
Social media blew up in disbelief. Critics savaged Time magazine for its bald-faced political choice. (See articles by Mediaite, Fox News, the Hill, the Star, the Blaze and the Morning Call.)
Therefore, the Dec. 21 issue of Time is Tech-media-tainment’s pick for most controversial U.S. magazine cover of 2020.
What follows are some other controversial magazines covers in the U.S. this year.
Singer Harry Styles sparked conversations about male gender identity when he posed for the cover of Vogue magazine while wearing a dress. His appearance in the December issue made history as Styles became the magazine’s first-ever solo male cover star.
Conservative commentator Candace Owens said Styles’ attire reflected “the steady feminization of our men.” At the end of her commentary, she declared, “Bring back manly men.”
(See articles by NBC News, Metro, Today and the Independent.)
Rapper Cardi B received backlash for cultural appropriation and disrespect when she posed as Hindu goddess Durga for the November cover of Footwear News.
(See articles by Us, E Online, ET Online and Cosmopolitan.)
People criticized Vogue magazine’s August cover story on gymnast Simone Biles for dimly lit photos that seemed to emphasize her blackness. They said Vogue should have used a black photographer instead of Annie Leibovitz.
(See articles by HuffPost, PetaPixel, B&T, Daily Dot and Insider.)
The Vanity Fair magazine July cover photo of black actress Viola Davis by black photographer Dario Calmese also received scorn. Some in the black community felt the photo was too dark and evoked the famous Civil War “Scourged Back” photograph. (See article by The Root.)
The Boston Globe removed its Sunday magazine from the June 7 issue because the cover illustration “bore an unintentional but close resemblance to the way George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.” The image for the cover story “Burnout Nation” was meant to depict the stress many people feel during the Covid-19 pandemic. The illustration showed a large ball pinning a person down by the neck.
(See article by Universal Hub and Twitter post by Dan Kennedy.)
Singer and actress Selena Gomez was accused of “blackfishing” in her cover photo for the spring 2020 issue of Interview magazine.
(See articles by PopBuzz and International Business Times.)
The June cover of Entertainment Weekly sparked criticism in the LGBTQ+ community. The cover illustration for its Pride Month issue included some controversial celebrities, namely RuPaul and Ellen DeGeneres.
RuPaul raised the ire of progressives for leasing the mineral rights on his Wyoming ranch and selling water to oil companies for fracking.
Meanwhile, DeGeneres is in the doghouse after disclosures of the toxic work environment on her talk show.
(See articles by In The Know and Aol.)
Mpls. St. Paul Magazine earned criticism for featuring disgraced radio personality Garrison Keillor on its January cover. Minnesota Public Radio ended its nearly 50-year relationship with Keillor over accusations of sexual harassment.
(See articles by Media Research Center, Star Tribune and City Pages.)
And finally, the Reno-Tahoe International Airport pulled a women’s lifestyle magazine from its advertising racks in January after it ran a glossy cover story about the Mustang Ranch brothel. A group that protests the legal sex industry in Nevada played a role in the removal of the Bliss Life magazine issue.
(See articles by Reno Gazette Journal and the Associated Press.)
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