The most controversial U.S. magazine covers this year hit on such hot button issues as artificial intelligence, racial politics and the second term of President Donald Trump. Others were controversial just because of the ick factor.
Time magazine pissed off liberals by choosing the billionaire tech executives behind the AI megatrend as its Persons of the Year. They included Tesla leader Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta Platforms head Mark Zuckerberg. Time dubbed them the “Architects of AI.”
The magazine cover photo illustration put the AI executives on a steel beam like the famous 1932 photograph “Lunch atop a Skyscraper.”
“Nothing says ‘person of the year’ like replacing Depression-era workers with the billionaires making our skills obsolete,” writer Rhea Nayyar said in an article for Hyperallergic.
Time’s cover image “feel like a desecration of history,” Creative Bloq said.
Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel tore into Time magazine’s 2025 Person of the Year cover, calling the eight-person lineup of tech CEOs “the eight dorks of the apocalypse.” (See articles by New York Post and Fox News.)
Wired magazine did a similar cover with AI executives this year but chose to imitate a different well-known work of art: “Dogs Playing Poker” by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.
In January, critics slammed New York Magazine for its cover image, which cropped black people out of a photo of a pro-Trump party to go with a story that claimed the crowd was almost entirely white.
See articles by New York Post, Daily Mail, the Hollywood Reporter, Fox News and SMU’s the Daily Campus.
Time magazine (again) stirred up controversy with its Feb. 24 cover showing tech entrepreneur Elon Musk sitting behind the U.S. president’s desk. The cover story was designed to imply that Musk had undue influence over Trump.
The Root said “Time Magazine’s new Elon Musk cover should scare the hell out of us.”
See other articles by CNN, NBC News and Mediaite.
Time magazine (yet again) angered Trump with its Oct. 10 cover photo, which “disappeared” his hair. It also drew attention to his wrinkled neck. In a social media post, Trump said the picture might be “the Worst of All Time.” (See articles by USA Today, the Hill, Fox News, People, Daily Beast and New York Post.)
After the uproar, Time changed the cover to a more flattering photo. (See articles by Deadline, TMZ, the Independent and Daily Beast.)
Miami-based rapper JT got fans talking with the cover photo for CultedXO magazine. She was photographed sporting ridiculously large lips. The concept for her photo spread was to send a message: “The story is f*ck how people view me,” she said.
(See articles by The Shade Room, Pink World Station and Instagram.)
In the yuck category of magazine covers was a digital cover for Sound Advice from the March issue of Interview magazine. It featured a photo of American record producer Benny Blanco with two feet in his face. The feet presumably belonged to his then-fiancé, now wife, singer Selena Gomez.
(See article by Parade.)
A different kind of ick was a September cover of Us magazine that featured 73-year-old football coach Bill Belichick and his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson.
(See articles by Marca, Awful Announcing and the Spun.)
Actress Sadie Sink raised eyebrows with her eyebrows and strange look on the cover of Teen Vogue. (See article by Parade.)
The Hollywood Reporter faced criticism for its magazine cover depicting actress Blake Lively slinging a mobile phone at director Justin Baldoni. The two are embroiled in a bitter legal battle. Lively’s spokesperson called the cover image and accompanying story “sexist” and “offensive.”
(See articles by the Daily Mail, GB News, the Independent and the Daily Mail again.)
And finally Vogue faced a backlash for its June cover featuring Lauren Sánchez in her bridal dress for her wedding to Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos. Haters complained about celebrating the nuptials of the ultrawealthy.
(See articles by Radar and Daily Beast.)
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