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Gabourey Sidibe’s Elle Cover Sparks Controversy Over Skin Lightening
By Leah Chernikoff
Elle is taking heat for their October issue over claims that the mag lightened cover girl Gabourey Sidibe’s skin.
Here’s the criticism: “Sidibe’s skin is noticeably lighter than usual. Elle clearly couldn’t handle Sidibe’s real skin color, and traded away her actual color for something dramatically lighter,” Julianne Hing wrote in ColorLines, an online magazine that tackles issues around racism and social justice.
Elle swiftly denied the accusations.
“We absolutely did not lighten her skin,” Elle’s EIC Robbie Myers told E! last night at the Oscar de la Renta show. “It’s not a controversy.”
Myers went on to explain the difference between studio photography and a red carpet snap: “At a photo shoot, in a studio, that is a fashion shoot, that’s glamorous, the lighting is different. The photography is different than a red carpet shot from a paparazzi.”
The magazine also issued a statement which reads: ““We have four separate covers this month and Gabby’s cover was not retouched any more or less than the others. We had 25 cover-worthy subjects in our portfolio and we chose Gabby because of who she is. We shot this as a story of exuberant young women changing the world. If you take a look at the portfolio, each of the women were shot in different ways and for different reasons.”
It’s Sidibe’s first major cover, and she’s one of four celebrities around the age of 25 that Elle chose to put on the cover to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, and Lauren Conrad also grace the cover.
But Sidibe’s cover girl co-stars were shot differently for their covers. While the plus-size Sidibe is cropped at the chest for her close-up cover, Fox, Sefriend and Conrad are all photographed from the knees-up. Critics are also crying foul over the cropping, faulting Elle for representing the Precious-star differently on account of her plus-size figure.
What’s your take? Is this “not a controversy,” as Myers said, or do the critics have a leg to stand on?
Tags: ELLE, Gabourey Sidibe, Robbie Myers
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You can never please everyone. Those who are nitpicking every aspect of this cover are the same people who were campaigning for plus size or “diversity” to be featured in this first place. Celebrate that she’s on the cover, instead, maybe? Good for her!
Amen to that. The issue here should be why the hell Lauren Conrad has gotten another magazine cover. That is worth complaining about.
If they were going to crop her and lighten her skin, they could have just picked another cover model? It almost seems like they created this for controversy.
I’m not sure they thought this far ahead, but I do think both “controversies” were completely foreseeable. Didn’t anyone look at the four covers and think “one of these things is not like the other? That’s a Barney & Friends level of mental cognition, so you’d think someone would’ve noticed.
Oh please people! I am a light-skinned African-American, plus-size woman and I know that studio lighting can make one appear fairer than normal. I look darn near white under studio lighting.
Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe Gabby wanted the close crop? Also, you never know if there was a wardrobe malfunction or something funky was going on with her wig in the photo that they noticed after the fact.
Not everything is a conspiracy!
Oh please people! I am a light-skinned African-American, plus-size woman and I know that studio lighting can make one appear fairer than normal. I look darn near white under studio lighting.
Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe Gabby wanted the close crop? Also, you never know if there was a wardrobe malfunction or something funky was going on with her wig in the photo that they noticed after the fact.
Not everything is a conspiracy!
Her photo was cropped because most cover pictures are. How often do you see a cover with a full-length body shot?
I really don’t think they lightened her skin. I’m pretty sure the lights in a studio are way more intense then some quick snap shot by a paparazzi. Her hair color also looks lighter in the picture –obviously it’s the lighting.
http://frillr.com/files/images/Lara%20Stone%20Love%20Magazine%20Preview.jpg
Her photo was cropped because most cover pictures are. How often do you see a cover with a full-length body shot?
I really don’t think they lightened her skin. I’m pretty sure the lights in a studio are way more intense then some quick snap shot by a paparazzi. Her hair color also looks lighter in the picture –obviously it’s the lighting.
Her photo was cropped because most cover pictures are. How often do you see a cover with a full-length body shot?
I really don’t think they lightened her skin. I’m pretty sure the lights in a studio are way more intense then some quick snap shot by a paparazzi. Her hair color also looks lighter in the picture –obviously it’s the lighting.
She was selected for publicity. No one can argue for me that Ms. Sidibe is the most exciting 25-ish year old Black actress/musician/whatever. (Same goes for LC and Meg Fox. either are changing any world I’m a part of). Rather than addressing a legitimate issue, the under-representation of black cover models, Elle just threw a dark skinned, morbidly obese (yes, she is morbidly obese, not just plus-sized or curvy) actress on their cover who has been in one movie and been celebrated for her novelty value by the industry. She does not have that same cult status in the black entertainment blogosphere. Don’t believe me? Go check out mediatakeout.com, the most visited black entertainment-gossip website to see their response to this cover.
Elle – the issue isn’t that you don’t embrace a diverse representation of black beauty on your cover. The issue is that you don’t embrace it at all. And presenting a woman who represents an unhealthy lifestyle in a nation where obesity is a plague as a representation of “black is beautiful” is sort of insulting. I could elaborate on obesity rates in urban and black communities, but this is a fashion blog.
It’s almost sort of laughable that if a black 25 year old woman was going to be featured it wasn’t Nicki Minaj. I don’t care for her personally, but few females are impacting their field the way she is.
Rant’s over…
thanks for thinking and putting down my thoughts! Janelle Monae, too!
Who cares if she’s Black? I disapprove Elle celebrating obsesity!!!! How dare they place her on the cover, what with her triple chins, sausage-like fingers, and hamhock jowls. ABSURD!!! She should be placed on strict, regimented diet with no cremes, sugars, pastries, or oil! Only fish and vegetables…and even then in very controlled 2oz portions with additional water and protein satchels to wash it down!!!
Are you the Ian Edwards who just followed me on tumblr?…
Perhaps….
It never fails to fill me with ennui when I hear alleged ‘fashion-types’ wailing against glorifying the ill health effects of the obese. Give. Me. A. Break. We all know many models/actresses/celebrities do not come by their extremely slim figures by genetics alone, yet we rarely hear these same folks rant against the obviously unhealthy effects of extremely disordered eating and drug use that are endemic in these professions.
*sigh*
It seems my ascerbic sarcasm is wasted here, yet again.
In defense of Elle, there are lots of effects you can apply to pictures (I do not have photoshop, know nothing about photography, and do all my editing with iPhoto) that have the effect of lightening skin and hair that don’t really entail a specific and deliberate changing of skin color. In iPhoto, if you click “fade color” 4-5 times, then “boost color” a couple times, anyone will look like Edward Cullen.
weak
Her skin and hair are clearly lighter than they are in real life, but it’s an *interpretation* of that lightness to call it whitewashing or simply photo alteration. Of course paparazzi photography and a photoshoot are not going to look the same, but clearly, she is a dark-skinned woman with black hair, not a honey-skinned woman with brown hair as she is on the cover.
What’s all this rubbish about Sidibe’s size? If you saw Precious you would know what a truly talented actress she is. She looks good on the cover – remember, she is an actress, not a model and it is great publicity for her to be on the cover of such a widely read magazine.
Precious sucked. Black filmakers need to stop doing films about ghetto black folks, loud ass black women, and parody movies. Make a movie that doesn’t scream “black film.” As a mixed woman I hate that Gabby is now representing black actresses – great, a star who’s obese and crass (read about how she acts to fans) Might as well as had Madea on the cover.
And while I admit Nicki M. is huge right now, hell no I do not want to see her big ass on the cover of Elle. Yet another tacky mouthy rap girl? No thanks.
all the excuses of lighting, photo retouching, “interpretation”, cropping are bullshit.
this is an example of how dark she is and suppose to look. I prefer the darker Gabourey…
http://afripopmag.com/wp-content/gallery/alek-wek-magazine-covers/ef33tcqenjlbt3qe.jpg
no cropping here…
http://christopherstrong.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/ellealek.jpg
all the excuses of lighting, photo retouching, “interpretation”, cropping are bullshit.
this is an example of how dark she is and suppose to look. I prefer the darker Gabourey…
http://afripopmag.com/wp-content/gallery/alek-wek-magazine-covers/ef33tcqenjlbt3qe.jpg
no cropping here…
http://christopherstrong.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/ellealek.jpg
I think Gabby is so great the way she is. This whole Elle controversy makes me so sad because it projects this idea that being beautiful is being thin and white. That quote from Elle about each cover being shot differently is bullshit; Seyfried, Fox, and Conrad were all shot from the knees up, each are essentially doing the same pose, and each look pretty much the same on the cover as they do in paparazzi photos. It seems suspicious that Sidibe is the only girl who looks dramatically different and whose body is not being shown. What message does this send to young girls who look more like Gabby instead of the other ladies? Elle should be celebrating beauty diversity, not hiding it.
That said, some of these comments seem truly hateful towards overweight or obese women. Fashionista, you should be regulating your comments and reprimanding those who say hateful or discriminatory things.
Stating that she is morbidly obese is not hateful. There are quantitative standards which determine this status, and Ms. Sidibe visibly falls into this category. Stating that it’s an unhealthy lifestyle and that it should not be celebrated is not discriminatory, it is a statement of medical fact and assessment of public health risk.
So what you’re really saying is that those who post opinions that don’t conform to your idea of political correctness should be reprimanded? Yikes.
@Gigi – The consequences of the sort of eating disorders you mention are quite minimal when compared with the exponentially more prevalent, expensive, and deadly epidemic that obesity has become. This is not debatable. It isn’t the fashion world’s job to make people feel good about that.
I wasn’t saying that calling someone morbidly obese is hateful; I apologize if it seemed that way. I was referring to this comment:
“Who cares if she’s Black? I disapprove Elle celebrating obsesity!!!! How dare they place her on the cover, what with her triple chins, sausage-like fingers, and hamhock jowls. ABSURD!!! She should be placed on strict, regimented diet with no cremes, sugars, pastries, or oil! Only fish and vegetables…and even then in very controlled 2oz portions with additional water and protein satchels to wash it down!!!”
You don’t find some of the language in that comment even a little bit hateful? “How dare they place her on that cover”, “sausage-like fingers”, “hamhock jowIs”? I’m not trying to keep everybody politically correct; we’re all entitled to our own opinions. I’m just saying that Fashionista should act as a moderator and make sure that people aren’t saying mean or hateful things about others because of how they look.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I WAS JOKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I usually am on here…..!!!!
Sure, it may be subversive, sure it may be twisted, and yes, it may even be somewhat polarizing, at times, but I DO have a sense of humor. My comment was made purely in jest, and was not made with the intention of offending anyone, being hateful, or hurting anyone’s feelings.
I do realize that the weight issue (just as race – I am a young Black male, myself, so I’m very keenly aware of race issues, race relations, and the like) is an extremely touchy one. I was merely attempting to elicit a laugh from some of the regular readers of this website (who I’m certain, by now [at least I would hope so], are familiar with my antics and my light-hearted sense of humor) and bring some much needed levity to the conversation. In my efforts to do so, however, I seem to have obviously struck a nerve.
This will be one of the few times that I do this, because I don’t see a need to justify all of my actions, but I do apologize for my comments if they bothered anyone or gave anyone a less-than-favorable impression of me.
Ch@nel bless you all….
Stating that she is morbidly obese is not hateful. There are quantitative standards which determine this status, and Ms. Sidibe visibly falls into this category. Stating that it’s an unhealthy lifestyle and that it should not be celebrated is not discriminatory, it is a statement of medical fact and assessment of public health risk.
So what you’re really saying is that those who post opinions that don’t conform to your idea of political correctness should be reprimanded? Yikes.
@Gigi – The consequences of the sort of eating disorders you mention are quite minimal when compared with the exponentially more prevalent, expensive, and deadly epidemic that obesity has become. This is not debatable. It isn’t the fashion world’s job to make people feel good about that.
i may be being a bit nieve but I honestly do not believe that Elle was trying to be funny. I have friends that are models and an in studio photograph is much different from someone snapping a picture of you outside walking down the side walk and as far as them cropping the rest of her body out I honestly think that people are merely looking for a reason to complain and whine. The editors picked the shot that they felt was best. I dont understand why all the “controversy” its a loveley cover lets celebrate that. =-)
Whenever I have a flash in my face I am 10 shades paler too..No big deal. Everyone knows how bright those photo studios are…
I do not think that Elle deliberately lightened her skin. As a dark skinned black woman, I know how lightening can make my hues look differently in different photos. I do think that her having a head shot as opposed to knee up (I’m an avid reader and traditionally they’re covers are shot from the knee up) has something to do with her body type. I don’t think it would be a poor choice if there were no other covers with witch to compare it. Sidbe is terribly over weight, and call her curvy is just an egregious use of euphemisms. Frankly, I don’t care to see her entire body on a magazine cover but not just because the look is off putting but because in no way shape or form could being her size be healthy. It is not something to be praised. The same should be said for terribly thin women, it is not sexy and in no way is being nearly anorexic healthy. I do think it’s unfortunate though that people are more apt to believe that obesity is something that is genetically inclined and being thin isn’t. I beg to differ from my own small frame that I have to work hard to keep weight on, but I digress…
I think people are ignoring the real problem with the cover though. Gabby’s wig is terrible. It is poorly positioned, terribly straightened, dry and not at all convincing. It is indicative of hollywood’s issues with Black hair. Her hair has been beautiful in many appearances and Elle needs to find a stylist is is talented enough to handle African American hair, which is not a hard job. It is sad that stylists concepts of good/bad hair have translated into laziness when perfecting their craft. The fact that they chose this picture is disgusting, how is it that this picture continued to be approved and her hair looked so poorly? Where were the editors? Anyway… these are just my thoughts.
black people photograph differently depending on what lighting and camera is being used. That’s just how our skin reacts. I take a million pictures, and i look like i have 3 different skin complexions, seriously. I hope ELLE didint lighten up Gabby’s skin complexion! That would just be wrong.
Oprah was shot from the chest up for the cover of “O” Magazine for a little over a year because she was embarrassed of her size in comparison to all the smaller women that would grace the covers of other magazines that sat next to hers in newsstands. Also, Oprah looks a different complexion in paparazzi shots than on TV and “O” covers. That said, it is possible that in order not to make her a spectacle they cropped her shot & that the studio lighting did project her complexion as being brighter.
I don’t know why we fight it. Magazines are just going to do whatever the hell they want. It’s not about popular vote for them, or what the public says, it’s about what their big $$ advertisers want.
http://www.JsEverydayFashion.com
I get why people are a bit peeved. It doesn’t necessarily bother me, BUT CLEARLY Elle should’ve hired a photographer and retoucher that knows how to work with darker skin. I think it was Jezebel that showed a side by side of Elle and Ebony. Ebony had a full body shot of Gabby and she looked like she did at the Oscars, no skin color change with lighting or retouching. I think Elle blew it on the production and post production of the issue. They aren’t some small indie magazine where let imperfections slip, there Elle magazine, been around for years doing this. Her hair is a hot mess too. I mean just HIRE a team of people who know how to work with ethnic hair. Even Tyra preaches this motto.
I feel like this is obviously a lighting issue. But when it comes to Beyonce, I feel that her skin tone is constantly lightened according to what company she is working with. When she is in anything associated with Loreal she is always extremely lighter skinned than when she is in any other publication. Thats a problem. But this picture in particular of Gabbie gets no complaints from me.
i think black people have a problem thinking that someone might not like their skin or a magazine won’t sell because of that, It is a MAGAZINE have you ever seen another magazine with a white model on it ??? they all have brighter skin than in reality because it makes u look glamouros and nice, do you think Britney Spears is really that white and glowy how she appeared on the covers of the magazines?
Black people have the same rights as white ppl no one cares anymore about these things, if someone doesn’t hire you it’s not bcz u’re black it;s because there might be someone with a better cv than yours. U better focus on your lifes and live them as you wanted, with the same rights as whites not playing the victim always.
BIIIIIIIITCH!!!!!!!!
Oh my!!!!
I think Jezebel looks amazing in Elle magazine with lighter or darker skin. What do you think about someone that is white like Renee Zelweger in the cover of Ebony magazing and she looks dark skin. Stop looking for the bad things in everything!!! Idiots, you are the people that created the racism in this country.
Latin221 – that is one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever read online. And that’s saying a lot.