Anna Wintour apologizes to Vogue's black staffers, but will this save her from being canceled?
George Floyd's death sparked the 'Black Lives Moment' to reignite and called for a change to take place. With many people calling out networks and magazines for how they treated people of color, editor-in-chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour decided to come forward and break her silence on the same.
As reported by Page Six, Wintour penned down an apology to all her staff members. "I want to start by acknowledging your feelings and expressing my empathy towards what so many of you are going through: sadness, hurt, and anger too," she wrote. "I want to say this especially to the Black members of our team — I can only imagine what these days have been like. But I also know that the hurt, and violence, and injustice we’re seeing and talking about have been around for a long time. Recognizing it and doing something about it is overdue.”
Wintour admitted how black people were not given enough opportunities within the magazine as she continued, "I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers, and other creators. We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes."
She admitted it was hard being a black employee at Vogue and hinted at a change that was to come. “It can’t be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you. I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will — and please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward. I am listening and would like to hear your feedback and your advice if you would like to share either."
She concluded by writing, "I am proud of the content we have published on our site over these past few days but I also know that there is much more work to do. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me directly. I am arranging ways we can discuss these issues together candidly, but in the meantime, I welcome your thoughts or reactions.”
Wintour's statement gave rise to the Twitter trend #VogueChallenge. People were quick to photoshop their images into Vogue cover and shared it with the rest of the world. A diverse collection of pictures came to light and people got to see how different Vogue has been. However, would the statement be enough to stop Wintour from being crucified for some of the allegations that have been made against her in the past?
In the past, several people have come forward claiming the ill-treatment they have suffered from the hands of Wintour. Ex-Vogue editor André Leon Talley was the first one to come forward and open up about how Wintour was "not capable of simple human kindness". He spoke about his friendship with Wintour in his memoir ' The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir', as reported by the Daily Mail.
He stated their friendship ended because Wintour thought he was "too old, overweight and uncool". Meanwhile, designer Ralph Rucci also came forward and called out Wintour for being 'evil' and 'mediocre' on his social media, as reported by the Daily Mail. Talk show host Wendy Williams was among the many who broke her silence to speak about Wintour and her behavior.
She was straightforward with her thoughts and admitted that Wintour does not care about people. In the past, Vogue had also been criticized for having a lack of diversity and Naomi Campbell had slammed the magazine for its "all-white editorial team", as reported by Grazia Daily.
With so many allegations surrounding Wintour, many wonder if an apology would be enough to save her or will she be the next person to be slammed by the people?