Vanity Fair is gambling on its own staff in its bid to put First Lady Melania Trump on the cover of an upcoming issue.
Staffers at the legacy magazine are flipping out after Semafor first reported that the publication’s new global editorial director, Mark Guiducci, was working to woo the first lady into a photoshoot.
“I will walk out the motherfucking door, and half my staff will follow me,” a mid-level Vanity Fair editor told the Daily Mail on Monday. “We are not going to normalize this despot and his wife; we’re just not going to do it. We’re going to stand for what’s right.”
The editor added that they would rather work any other job than remain at Vanity Fair if it chooses to feature Mrs. Trump on its cover page.
“If I have to work bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s, I’ll do it,” the editor said. “If [Guiducci] puts Melania on the cover, half of the editorial staff will walk out, I guarantee it.”
But her treatment does stand in stark contrast to the publishing giant’s recent history of documenting the country’s first ladies. Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Jill Biden all appeared in Vogue while their husbands were president, sometimes more than once. President Barack Obama also graced the magazine’s cover three times, while President Joe Biden was pictured on the front twice.
Guiducci’s plan, however, did make the magazine some new fans over at Fox & Friends, where host Ainsley Earnhardt claimed that she would buy the issue multiple times “just to prove a point.”
Co-host Brian Kilmeade also advised that the unnamed editor that spoke with the Daily Mail should be rooted out and “fired,” instructing Vanity Fair staffers to be on the lookout for the disgruntled employee. “If you’re at Vanity Fair right now,” he said, “look for a mid-level editor who looks angry, and toss them out and send them to Trader Joe’s!”
The post Vanity Fair Staff Shocked by Proposed Melania Cover appeared first on New Republic.
