14 DAY TRIAL // In the 2008 annual issue of Young Hollywood, Vanity Fair included Zoe Saldana and American Ferrara among the most up and coming stars of the moment. Both, as fans would know, are not white. Strangely enough, this year’s issue is all “milky,” which has made many media outlet to claim that either VF is turning a cold shoulder on real talent or it has something against women of color, Bossip says.
There are countless stars who should have made it in this year’s issue, from the aforementioned Saldana who is, after all, starring in the biggest selling movie of all times, James Cameron’s “Avatar,” and, as such, quite a promising star. Names like Gabourey Sidibe, who is now nominated for an Oscar for her part in “Precious,” one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2009, come to mind, for instance.
“You mean to tell us – in all of Hollywood, they couldn’t find one Black, Latina, Native-American, Asian, multi-racial actress on the rise worthy of this group??? SERIOUSLY??? Don’t get us wrong, Vanity Fair has traditionally kept it pretty milky when it comes to their Young Hollywood issue over the years, but we thought they were on the road to progress after they featured both Zoe Saldana and America Ferrara in their 2008 lineup,” Bossip writes with clear indignation.
“Mind you, Zoe and America didn’t even make the front cover in 2008, they slid those two into the inset and gave Emily Blunt, Jessica Biel, Amy Adams and Anne Hathaway all the shine. Funny enough, VF included Zoe Kravitz, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens in a profile on young up-and-coming actresses for last month’s issue, but it wasn’t a cover story! Will things ever change at Vanity Fair??? Should we stop buying these magazines until they diversify their covers (and not just by putting Tiger on front street)?” the same e-zine goes on to say.
The stars featured in this issue of Vanity Fair are Kristen Stewart, Abbie Cornish, Mia Wasikowska, Carey Mulligan, Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Hall, Emma Stone, Evan Rachel Wood and Anna Kendrick. As USA Today can confirm, the message that the magazine seems to be sending with its choice of stars is that Young Hollywood is lacking diversity, “pretty, thin, female and white.”