Kamala Harris is ‘extremely disappointed’ with her Vogue cover

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Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is ‘extremely disappointed’ with her Vogue cover a source has revealed, after the magazine made the decision to swap out her chosen image for another photo at the last minute without consulting the 56-year-old.  

Harris’ debut for the magazine sparked outrage when it was published over the weekend, with hundreds of social media users hitting out at Vogue and its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, accusing them of ‘lightening’ the the VP-elect’s skin in the images, while basting the ‘lazy’ editing.      

A source told DailyMail.com that Harris had thought her preferred image – which shows the VP-elect in a powder blue suit – would be used on the cover, and said she was only made aware that the more ‘casual’ photo of her wearing Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers had been swapped in when the cover was leaked online. 

However, a Vogue insider denied that Harris’ team ever requested photo or cover approval, and insisted that a specific cover shot had not been agreed upon. 

Still, the source close to Harris suggested that she privately agrees with much of the online criticism of the chosen cover shot, revealing that the VP-elect is ‘extremely disappointed’ with the choice – despite the fact that her own team chose her outfits for the shoot. 

The backlash marks the latest in a long line of controversies to cloud Vogue editor-in-chief’s Wintour’s leadership and comes just months after she admitted to allowing ‘hurtful and intolerant’ behavior at the magazine, as well as failing to do enough to champion black staffers and designers. 

But, just seven months after Wintour issued her mea culpa as part of a company-wide memo, Vogue is once again being accused of racial prejudice over the apparent ‘lightening’ of Harris’ skin in her cover shot.  

The image was quickly condemned by social media users, who insisted that the low-quality photo fell short of Vogue’s usual style standards, with some accusing the publication of ‘white-washing’ Harris’ skin. 

In the image, Harris is seen wearing an incredibly casual ensemble: a shiny black suit jacket, a white T-shirt, black cropped pants, and her Converse sneakers, which she occasionally wore on the campaign trail.

She is pictured posing in front of swathes of green and pink fabric, which are meant to represent the colors of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first historically African American Greek-lettered sorority.

DailyMail.com’s source declined to denounce specific aspects of the shot, but suggested that Harris and her team agree with much of the negative criticism circulating online. 

‘She is… they are of course extremely disappointed with the photo,’ the source said, while adding that Harris hopes the backlash around the image doesn’t take away completely from the ‘historic’ moment: her first magazine cover as the first female US Vice President of color. 

‘This is a really important [moment] for her,’ they continued. 

‘Vogue symbolizes so much for young women and women of color. These are the type of magazines that don’t always have women of color on the cover. Not just this magazine but other magazines like it, so this was a big moment for her.’ 

Despite the backlash over the image, Harris still hopes that the cover will still serve as an ‘inspiration’ to people of all genders, races, and ages, and demonstrate that ‘your dreams are achievable’, the source added.

Harris’ preferred cover option, which will feature on the front of its digital issue, has been reviewed far more favorably by many – and it is understood that this is the image that was Harris’ preferred cover option.   

It was initially claimed by journalist Yashar Ali that Harris and her team had actually agreed with Vogue and Wintour that the blue suit shot would be used on the cover, however an insider at Vogue insists that the VP-elect did not request any kind of photo approval. 

‘In the cover that they expected, Vice President-elect Harris was wearing a powder blue suit,’ Ali tweeted alongside the print cover.  

‘That was the cover that the Vice President-elect’s team and the Vogue team, including [Editor-in-Chief] Anna Wintour, mutually agreed upon…which is standard for fashion magazines.’ 

Vogue’s insider shut down this claim, insisting that Harris’ team did not ask to approve a specific cover shot, while adding that magazine staffers chose the image that they felt best reflected the her ‘approachable’ personality. 

‘If [Harris] is disappointed with the cover that is obviously regretful, but the team that worked on the shoot was so excited,’ the source said. ‘They are all her biggest fans.’

In an official statement, a spokesperson for Vogue told DailyMail.com that its team ‘loved’ the ‘more informal’ image of Harris that was chosen for the cover.  

‘The team at Vogue loved the images Tyler Mitchell shot and felt the more informal image captured Vice President-elect Harris’s authentic, approachable nature – -which we feel is one of the hallmarks of the Biden/Harris administration,’ a spokesperson said. 

‘To respond to the seriousness of this moment in history, and the role she has to play leading our country forward, we’re celebrating both images of her as covers digitally.’ 

Many online critics of the shoot were in agreement that the second cover, which shows Harris in a powder blue suit posing in front of a gold background, was far more suitable and flattering, raising questions about why it was shifted to the front of the digital issue.    

When the cover first emerged several Twitter users questioned whether it was real, saying the quality of the photo and the styling seemed way too low for America’s leading fashion magazine. 

‘Wait that Kamala Vogue cover is real?!’ one user questioned. ‘I thought it was fake —that’s how bad it is. Did they just ask her to send them photos her husband took or..?’ 

‘Vogue has Kamala Harris in some f**king Converse. Someone needs to throw a cinderblock at Anna Wintour,’ another wrote.

‘Kamala looks beautiful in whatever she wears- and I love that she’s brought Chucks back- but this Vogue cover is unworthy of the first woman, POC, Vice President of the United States,’ a third added. 

Activist Charlotte Clymer tweeted: ‘Folks who don’t get why the Vogue cover of VP-elect Kamala Harris is bad are missing the point.

‘The pic itself isn’t terrible as a pic. It’s just far, far below the standards of Vogue. They didn’t put thought into it. Like homework finished the morning it’s due. Disrespectful.’

Some users shared various photos of Harris that would have been better for the cover, while others noted that her skin appeared to have been lightened in the one that’s set to go to print. 

‘What a mess up. Anna Wintour must really not have Black friends and colleagues,’ author Wajahat Ali wrote in response to Yashar Ali’s tweet.

‘Kamala Harris is about as light skinned as women of color come and Vogue still f**ked up her lighting. WTF is this washed out mess of a cover?’ another user, E. Vaughan, tweeted.  

‘Vogue knows Kamala Harris loves her sorority, suits, comfortable pants and chuck taylors. So they just jumbled it all together for the cover. Except they couldn’t decide whether she is going to a luxe French salon, the Senate floor, or taking a jog.’ 

Several critics pointed out that this isn’t the first time Vogue has faced backlash over its handling of minority cover stars. 

‘Anyone shocked by the poor quality of Kamala’s Vogue cover hasn’t paid attention to Anna Wintour’s bulls**t w/people of color. It spans decades. Team Kamala should’ve known better,’ a user named Trish wrote. 

Some even called for Wintour to be fired. 

‘Anna Wintour needs to go,’ a particularly frustrated critic wrote. ‘If the only time her team can properly style a black women is when she’s covered in couture then her tenure has ran it course.’ 

Wintour came into the cross-hairs of America’s reckoning on race over the summer after she was accused of discriminating against employees because of the color of their skin. 

The 71-year-old from London, who has been at the helm of Vogue for more than three decades, responded to the outrage by issuing an extraordinary mea culpa in June. 

In a company-wide memo, Wintour admitted to allowing ‘hurtful and intolerant’ behavior at the magazine and conceded that she had not done enough to champion black staffers and designers. 

‘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,’ Wintour began.

‘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.’ 

However Wintour’s letter did little to quell the controversy surrounding her decision to remain in her role – and in October, a group of 18 black journalists who have worked with her over the years accused her of favoring employees who are thin, white, and from elite backgrounds in a piece published by the New York Times.  

 Eleven of them called for her resignation following offensive incidents involving her use of the word ‘pickaninny’, and other cultural appropriation controversies, including outrage over a 2017 Vogue shoot that featured Karlie Kloss posing in a geisha outfit, with her face in pale makeup and her hair dyed black.

The photo shoot in Japan drew immediate accusations of ‘yellowface’, however Wintour reportedly shut down concerns from her staff, insisting that the pictures could not be cut because it would incur an ‘enormous expense’.

 Wintour responded to the Times piece with another apology, writing: ‘I strongly believe that the most important thing any of us can do in our work is to provide opportunities for those who may not have had access to them.

‘Undoubtedly, I have made mistakes along the way, and if any mistakes were made at Vogue under my watch, they are mine to own and remedy and I am committed to doing the work.’  

In December Wintour was promoted to become the first-ever chief executive of  Condé Nast, in addition to her roles as Vogue Editor-in-Chief and Condé Nast artistic director.

Her new title, global chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, gave her control over all of the publications 25 editions across the globe.