The latest Kylie Jenner photo shoot is nothing short of controversial. The photo which graced the cover of Interview magazine shows a very plastic-looking Jenner in a wheelchair – which, of course, she doesn’t need. While Interview is defending the shoot, saying that the photo was meant to be reminiscent of the provocative work of British artist Allen Jones, which featured sculptures of women being used as human furniture, among other things, many see the photos as mocking the disabled and in poor taste. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, controversial photos are nothing new. Here are some other photos that sparked their fair share of debates.
15 LeBron or King Kong?
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Vogue claimed that it was being progressive when it featured its first African-American man on its cover. However, the photo, which shows LeBron James with his arm around Gisele Bundchen as he dribbles a basketball did not receive raving reviews from the black community. They found that James' competitive spirit made him look a bit too much like King Kong grabbing a fair maiden. James dismissed the controversy, saying that he was just letting his emotions show and was happy with the cover. What do you think?
14 Glamorizing Domestic Violence
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We're not sure what Vogue was thinking when it published this photo on the cover of its international men's magazine published in French. Although the main headline translates as "A man and a woman," a better headline for the 2012 publication may have been "A man and his slave." The cover drew plenty of criticism for its apparent glamorization of domestic violence against women.
13 Lindsay Lohan or Jesus?
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The metaphor isn't lost on us. We get that Lindsay Lohan was feeling crucified by the media, but was the crown of thorns really necessary? Not surprisingly, the public had a hard time seeing Lohan as a innocent religious figure, in spite of the white robe. Hopefully, she isn't planning to dress up as the Virgin Mary any time soon – because nobody would believe that either!
12 Who is it really about?
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Figuring out what made Kim Kardashian an expert about art was one thing. Her decision to appear naked both on the cover and in her spread is another thing. On the cover, headlines served as her fig leaves. On the inside spread, she was covered from the shoulders down in nothing but metallic body paint. Apparently, Kardashian thinks your body is a piece of art, her critics might think differently.
11 A Waisted Cover
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British model Stella Tennant got herself down to a thirteen-inch waist with what can be assumed to be the most uncomfortable, inhumane corset ever created. The Vogue Italia issue was supposed to show avant-garde fashion, but feminists and anyone wishing to have a positive body image were disturbed by the cover, which looks like it should be cut to shreds by the scissors Tennant is holding.
10 Save the whales or the fashion models
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We have all seen the images of ducks and seals covered in oil from a devastating spill, but usually fashion models don't fit into our schema of wildlife affected by said disasters. Kristen McMenamy is pictured on the cover and inner spread, clearly choking and dying on the slimy oil. While her not-so-lifelike spread and netlike clothing certainly made a statement in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill in 2010, not everyone thought that the photos were tasteful.
9 No Gold Stars For This One
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Some things should never come back, and shirts like this are one of them. The striped shirt by Spanish fashion designer Zara was quickly taken off of the markets in 2014 when the public noticed that the yellow star looked like the Star of David that Jews were required to wear during the Holocaust, and the striped design was reminiscent of a prisoner's uniform in a concentration camp. Zara apologized for its blunder and recalled the children's shirts. How this made it past the design stage, nobody knows. It wasn't Zara's first antisemitic blunder either – in 2007, they produced handbags with green swastikas that quickly sparked outrage.
8 Crossing the Borders
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Candy has always been a magazine for the transgendered community, but it made headlines when it featured James Franco in drag in the winter of 2010-2011. Long before the days of Caitlyn Jenner, Franco's willingness to put himself out there brought more integration to the LGBT community.
7 A Blowup
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It is not hard to see why this cover blew up all over the media. The image of Azealia Banks blowing into a condom was actually banned in seven countries. The young rapper didn't seem to mind. In fact, her debut album had a lot more explicit content than the cover of this 2012 Dazed and Confused magazine.
6 Black Models Matter
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Diversity has not always been fashion's strong suit, and in 2008, Vogue put faces to the issue by having Naomi Campbell, Sessilee Lopez, Liya Kebede and Jourdan Dunn pose for fashion photographer Steven Meisel. While the issues of diversity facing the African-American community have certainly been controversial, addressing the topic paid off for Vogue. Their "black issue" became its best-selling cover and actually had to be reprinted because of all the demand.
5 Who Wears the (Under)Pants?
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V Magazine decided to hypersexualize Kate Moss and Rihanna with these two covers. Apparently they couldn't figure out who wore the pants because they produced two covers – one with Rihanna in her birthday suit and a second with Kate Moss naked under Rihanna's scantily clad body. The 2013 photos were shot by Mario Testino.
4 Miss Appropriation
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Saskia de Brauw, a pale-skinned Dutch model, went so far as to have her skin tone darkened for the shot to grace the cover of Vogue Italia. The cover, which also features her face painted in a tribal style and giant stuffed African animals, was met with criticism for being racist and not exactly culturally sensitive.
3 More Than a Hunk of Meat
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This 2011 Vogue Hommes issue was pretty meaty. Not only did it show Lady Gaga in an all-meat bikini straight from the butcher shop, it also introduced her male identity Jo Calderone to the global community. The provocative cover was meant to show how women are viewed as pieces of meat. However, it led to quite a few protests by PETA and animal rights activists around the world, in addition to offending vegetarians. Lada Gaga apparently ate up the criticism. She would later appear in an all-meat dress at the MTV Music Video Awards.
2 Say Hey to Kimye!
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It is hard to keep up with the Kardashians, and Kim is no exception. Rumors about the couple and their top-secret wedding were floating long before the couple appeared on the cover of Vogue in 2014. The cover sparked outrage, as Vogue lovers canceled their subscriptions, saying that the magazine had lowered its fashion standards. However, the cover sold more than a half a million copies, more than when Michelle Obama graced the cover. It was also the first time that Vogue used a hashtag on its cover.
1 A Gender Fenderbender
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The mixed messages of this magazine cover made bookstores upset. It features Andrej Pejic shirtless but with a very feminine face and rollers in his hair. The enraged stores demanded that the publication come in opaque poly bags because of the confusing gender messages that they thought would make others uncomfortable. What do you think about this cover?
Sources: independent.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk, newsweek.com, slice.ca
