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'It can't be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue': Vogue EIC Anna Wintour acknowledges 'hurtful or intolerant' content from magazine

Lauren Frias   

'It can't be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue': Vogue EIC Anna Wintour acknowledges 'hurtful or intolerant' content from magazine
LifeInternational3 min read
  • Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour acknowledged the magazine's shortcomings in supporting Black staffers, and took "full responsibility" for any "hurtful or intolerant" content that came from the publication in the past.
  • In an internal email to staff last Thursday, Wintour wrote that "it can't be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you," and expressed pride in the magazine's content published over the last few days in light of public unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd.
  • "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," Wintour wrote in the email, obtained by Page Six. "I am listening and would like to hear your feedback and your advice if you would like to share either."

Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour acknowledged the magazine's past images or stories that were "hurtful or intolerant" and not doing enough to support Black staffers in an internal email, Page Six reported Tuesday.

Wintour wrote the email to staff last Thursday amid Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes while Floyd was in custody.

"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 wrote, according to the Page Six report. "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."

She went on in the email to recognize how the fashion magazine has "not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators." She also took "full responsibility" for the "mistakes" of publishing images or stories that have been "hurtful or intolerant."

"It can't be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you," she wrote in the email. "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."

"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," Wintour continued. "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."

André Leon Talley, former Vogue editor-at-large, claimed he "wasn't being treated properly" by Wintour and wrote in his new book that she is "not capable" of "simple human kindness."

"I had suddenly become too old, too overweight, too uncool, I imagined, for Anna Wintour," he wrote in his new book, "The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir."

Talley also said Wintour failed to acknowledge his op-ed published in The Washington Post thanking her and the magazine for running the historic cover on the September 2018 issue.

The cover featured singer-songwriter Beyonce, and was shot by Tyler Mitchell, who was the first Black photographer to shoot the cover image in all 126 years of Vogue's history.

"Not one quick email from Anna Wintour," Talley wrote in his memoir. "Editors I've worked with for decades didn't understand the immense importance of this occasion simply because they are not capable of understanding. None of my contemporaries have seen the world through black eyes."

In her email, Wintour acknowledged the "historic and heartbreaking moment for our country," and wrote that "it should be a time of listening, reflection, and humility for those of us in positions of privilege and authority."

"It should also be a time of action and commitments," she continued. "On a corporate level, work is being done to support organizations in a real way. These actions will be announced as soon as possible."

Vogue didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

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