The most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2025

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.)

The most controversial foreign magazine covers of 2025

Trump derangement syndrome, or TDS, played a role in some of the most controversial foreign magazine covers of 2025.

The Indian government reportedly tried to block the distribution of an issue of Indian weekly magazine Vikatan, which featured an unflattering cover of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cover was a cartoon of Modi in handcuffs alongside U.S. President Donald Trump. The cover was a response to reports that Indians were being deported from the U.S. in handcuffs.
See article by the Daily Cartoonist.

British satirical magazine Private Eye went viral with a cover that took aim Trump’s supposed adulation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
See article by HuffPost.

The Economist cover about Trump’s first 100 days of his second term also went viral. It featured an image of a wounded and bandaged symbolic eagle under the headline “Only 1,361 Days To Go.” The magazine is counting down the days until Trump leaves office.
See articles by BuzzFeed and HuffPost.

In May, the Vietmanese government banned an issue of the Economist that featured an illustration of Vietnam’s top leader, Communist party General Secretary To Lam, on its cover.
The image showed Lam with stars on his eyes, alongside the headline “The man with a plan for Vietnam,” with the subhead: “A Communist party hard man has to rescue Asia’s great success story.”
See articles by the Guardian and Reuters.

An Irish government-funded magazine, Comhar, sparked outrage with its July cover. The cover image showed a presumably Israeli couple in swimwear lying on a beach next to a bloodied amputee with barbed wire dividing them. Jewish symbols dotted the wire that split the amputee from the bathers, prompting backlash from Jewish community groups. The article comes amid the armed conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
See article by the Jewish Chronicle.

And finally, Glamour UK caused controversy when it named nine males with transgender identities among its “women of the year.”
British political commentator Piers Morgan said in a post on X that the issue was “beyond parody even by ludicrous woke virtue-signaling standards.”
See articles by Fox News and the Sunday Times.

The most provocative nude and skin-baring magazine covers of 2025

This year saw its usual share of attention-grabbing magazine covers featuring scantily clad or naked models, actresses and singers. What follows is a rundown of the notable nude and skin-baring magazine covers in 2025.

Singer Sabrina Carpenter wore nothing but thigh-high stockings and butt-grazing blond hair extensions while gracing the cover of Rolling Stone’s Summer Double Issue in June.
See articles by Page Six, People and Cosmopolitan.

Model Angelina Kendall wore just red pumps and red shades for the M magazine cover in March.
See article by Le Monde.

Socialite Kim Kardashian wore body paint for her ample top along with a pair of dark trousers for the Re-Edition winter 2025-26 issue in November.
See article in The Sporting News.

Influencer Bhad Bhabie was mostly naked on the cover of King Kong magazine in October.
See article by Perez Hilton.

Actress Zoe Saldana wore a sheer dress that exposed her nipples on the cover of the February issue of Harper's Bazaar.
See articles by Harper’s Bazaar and The Zoe Report.

Blackpink singer Jennie covered her bare breasts with white floral props for the cover of HOMME Girls in April.
See articles by Koreaboo and Times Now News.

Model Laiza de Moura was pictured wearing a revealing top on the cover of Vogue Portugal in March.
See article by Anne of Carversville and Cover Junkie.

Singer Miley Cyrus posed naked for the cover of Perfect magazine in August.
See articles by Fox News, Parade and InStyle.

Not to be outdone, Miley’s sister Noah Cyrus wore a revealing sheer outfit for the cover of Shadowplay Magazine in September.
See article by Parade.

Singer Doja Cat suffered a nip slip on the digital cover of V magazine issue 155 in June.
See articles by V magazine and Fashion Gone Rogue.

And finally ageless supermodel Elle Macpherson showed off some side boob on the cover of Maxim magazine’s summer 2025 issue in June.
See article by Maxim.

Streaming video services killed traditional TV seasons

I used to look forward to the TV Guide Fall Preview issue. It would get me excited for new TV series that would be premiering in the fall. Now you can hardly find that magazine issue on newsstands.
TV Guide was dominant before the internet when broadcast and cable TV were popular. Back then, new television shows premiered mostly in the fall when people spent more time inside because of the colder weather. Networks used that as an excuse to create an advertising sales event.
Now with streaming video services, new shows are premiering year-round. And many of those services are commercial-free. So they’re producing a steady stream of content to keep subscribers engaged.
The fall TV season still exists though it’s not as big a deal as it used to be.
Here are new and returning shows I’m most interested seeing in this autumn: “Alice in Borderland” (Netflix), “Alien: Earth” (Hulu), Pluribus (Apple TV+), “Slow Horses” (Apple TV+), “Stranger Things” (Netflix), “The Beast in Me” (Netflix), “The Diplomat” (Netflix) and “The Last Frontier” (Apple TV+).

Related articles:

The Complete Guide to Fall TV 2025: Everything to Know About What to Watch This Season (TV Guide; Sept. 29, 2025)

Fall TV Preview: 56 of the Most-Anticipated New and Returning Shows of 2025 (Variety; Sept. 4, 2025)

Celebrities who posed for skin-baring magazine covers in 2024

Celebrities who posed naked or partially clothed for magazine covers in 2024 included older women who look incredible for their age and young starlets looking for attention.

Actress Sharon Stone, 66, posed topless and more for the October issue of Harper's Bazaar Czech Republic.
(See Instagram posts here, here and here.)

Actress Lisa Rinna, 61, posed in a wet T-shirt and less for King Kong magazine issue 18.
(See article by the Daily Mail and King Kong.)

Italian bass player and songwriter Victoria De Angelis, 24, left little to the imagination with her cover for King Kong magazine issue 18.
(See King Kong.)

Singer Christina Aguilera, 44, posed topless for the cover of Paper magazine.
(See articles by Daily Mail and Paper.)

Social media personality Addison Rae, 24, posed in barely-there outfits for Perfect magazine issue 7 in August.
(See article by Daily Mail.)

Actress Ashley Benson, 35, posed topless while pregnant with her first child for the cover of Ladygunn digital magazine.
(See article by Glamour.)

Social media personality Alix Earle, 24, posed topless for Flaunt magazine.
(See article in Flaunt and an Instagram post.)

Socialite and media personality Paris Hilton, 43, took it all off, save for bangles and sunglasses, for the cover of Flaunt magazine.
(See articles in Parade and Flaunt.)

And finally, Hilton posed topless for a cheeky cover for the September issue of Nylon magazine.
(See articles by Parade, Cosmopolitan and Instagram.)

The most controversial foreign magazine covers of 2024

After reporting on the most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2024, it’s time to look at foreign magazine covers that rubbed people the wrong way this year.
What follows are some controversial foreign magazine covers, according mostly to the English-language media.

Italian magazine Sette published a Photoshopped mess of a cover for its April 5 issue.
The cover showed Italian ski champion Sofia Goggia with two left feet.
Goggia wanted to show the large scar on her right leg from an injury, but obviously the magazine wanted to cover it up.
(See articles by SnowBrains and Il Fatto Quotidiano.)

Vogue Arabia ran a cover featuring Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer who won the gold medal in the women’s 66 kg (welterweight) boxing event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The masculine-looking Khelif has faced allegations that she is actually male.
People took to social media to express their outrage that she was featured on the November cover of the women’s fashion magazine. (See post on X, for example.)

The U.K.’s Tatler magazine caught an earful for its July cover portrait of Princess Kate.
Critics branded the painting as “dreadful,” “awful” and looking “nothing like the Princess of Wales.”
(See articles by the Daily Mail, Mirror, BBC and CNN.)

And finally, French magazine Madame Figaro came under fire after it described former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s 13-year-old daughter, Giulia Sarkozy, as “more of a woman than ever” on a digital cover.
(See article by the Daily Mail.)

The most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2024

Sex, religion, race and politics were factors in the most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2024.
Of course, you could say that in practically any year. But this was a presidential election year, so sensitivities are heightened.

Beauty mogul and possibly retired singer Rihanna stirred up controversy with her spring 2024 cover photo for Interview magazine.
Rihanna wore a nun’s habit along with an unbuttoned blouse that showed off her sweaty cleavage. The sexy nun portrayal was criticized for being in bad taste.
(See articles by Fox News, ABC News and Parade.)

Actress Emma Corrin showed off her armpit hair for the cover of the June/July 2024 issue of Harper’s Bazaar. Social media commentators thought the look was unattractive.
(See article by People.)

Actress Kristen Stewart went viral for her gender-bending cover for the March issue of Rolling Stone magazine. The photo showed Stewart wearing a jock strap with her hand feeling her crotch.
(See articles by The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone and Us Weekly.)

Singer, dancer and actress JoJo Siwa pulled a similar stunt with her cover photo for Ladygunn magazine in September.
She wore an all-gold sequined outfit that included a male chest plate and a jock strap with a prominent bulge.
(See articles by the Daily Mail, Parade, the Independent, PopCulture.com, New York Post, USA Today, Today and HuffPost.)

The March 28 issue of Denver’s Westword magazine caught flak for the cover art for its article on youth and crime. The illustration showed a young boy with blue skin and curly, black hair wearing a hoodie. The boy had a handgun in his backpack.
Critics argued that the illustration presented harmful stereotypes that demonize black youth.
(See articles by Denver’s 9News and Westword.)

New York magazine’s March 11 issue drew complaints for its cover story subtitled “The moral case for letting trans kids change their bodies.”
Critics said it was an attempt to normalize surgery for sexually confused youngsters.
(See article by R. Albert Mohler Jr.)

Speaking of the trans debate, conservatives slammed Forbes magazine for including transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on the cover of its annual “30 Under 30” issue.
(See articles by the Daily Mail and the Blaze.)

New York magazine received criticism for a June cover story and illustration, which some said insulted Republican women with ridiculous stereotypes.
(See article by the Daily Wire.)

Time magazine named WNBA basketball star Caitlin Clark as its “Athlete of the Year.” Some haters claimed Clark, who is Caucasian, earned the title because of “white privilege.”
(See articles by Daily Mail, Daily Mail again and New York Post.)

Time magazine earned disapproval from conservatives for its fawning cover story on liberal presidential candidate Kamala Harris for the Aug. 26 issue.
(See articles by Fox News, Fox News again and New York Post.)

And finally, Time magazine upset leftists after naming President-elect Donald Trump its “Person of the Year” on its Dec. 30 cover.
(See articles by Sky News Australia, Daily Beast and Variety.)