The silence of both Vanity Fair and Harper’s Magazine are deafening as the publications have yet to publicly address the inappropriate comments their employees made on social media about Beyoncé and JAY-Z’s 7-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy.
K. Austin Collins, a film critic for Vanity Fair posted a hateful tweet on Wednesday, insulting Blue Ivy’s looks. “I have a feeling the jay z face genes are about to really hit Blue Ivy and I feel so sorry for her,” he said in the since-deleted tweet.
Harper’s Magazine’s web editor, Violet Lucca, shared her equally unrequited two cents. She wrote, “Or she’ll just get plastic surgery at 16 a la Kylie Jenner and we’ll all have to pretend that she always looked that way. I can’t allow myself to feel too sorry for the incredibly rich.”
The tweets are no longer on either journalists’ Twitter page, but screenshots were made of their crude comments and they have been under attack ever since. It has been two days since the comments were made and one day since folks have been questioning Vanity Fair and Harper’s Magazine about the accountability measures they plan to take on their employees.
“I’ll be interested to see how @melvillmatic and @unbuttonmyeyes are handled by @Harpers and @VanityFair for their inappropriate comments about Blue Ivy. These comments weren’t jokes or mistakes,” one person said.
https://twitter.com/whooks1131/status/1213160831371939841
Another wrote, “Do u consider @melvillmatic’s comments on Blue Ivy in-depth reporting & a gripping narrative? I’m sure he wasn’t speaking on behalf of VF, but he needs 2 b accountable 4 his words & the impact on young African American girls. His comments were insensitive, offensive & disgusting.”
Collins and Lucca have both issued apologies, but only after they were neck deep in criticism. “I’m sorry about the Blue Ivy tweet — bad joke, and black girls in particular deserve better,” said Collins.
Lucca’s initial apology was just as underwhelming as her counterpart’s. “…Children of famous ought to be off limits, but time and again they haven’t been,” she said. “So I said something petty and have been called ugly, old, and a racist.”
She later wrote, “I’m truly sorry to anyone who was reminded of past hurt because of my comments. I truly believe Blue Ivy will go to the grave without knowing who I am, which is neither here nor there, but on the off chance she sees it—I’m sorry, young lady. You’re gonna go far no matter what.”
Apologies, however, will not rectify the much deeper issue at hand – a blatant attack at a child’s looks.
NewsOne reached out to both Vanity Fair and Harper’s Magazine to see what disciplinary actions will be taken. While our request for a comment from Vanity Fair was not immediately returned, a rep for Harper’s Magazine said, “We don’t speak to the media about personnel matters.”
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