Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair (stylized in all caps) is an American monthly magazine of popular culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast in the United States.
This article is about the contemporary American magazine. For earlier magazines of the same name, see Vanity Fair (magazines).Editor
The first version of Vanity Fair was published from 1913 to 1936. The imprint was revived in 1983 after Conde Nast took over the magazine company. Vanity Fair currently includes five international editions of the magazine.[2] The five international editions the magazine is United Kingdom (since 1991), Italy (since 2003), Spain (since 2008), France (since 2013), and Mexico (since 2015). As of 2018, the Editor-in-Chief is Radhika Jones.
International editions[edit]
In 1991 Vanity Fair began publishing an international edition. The current five international editions of Vanity Fair being published; namely in the United Kingdom (since 1991),[20] Italy (since 2003, ISSN 1723-6673),[21] Spain (since 2008),[20] France (since 2013),[22] and Mexico (since 2015), with the Italian version published weekly. The Italian Vanity Fair was established in October 2003[20][23] and celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2013.[24]
Vanity Fair Germany launched in February 2007 at a cost of €50 million (euros) , then the most expensive new magazine in Germany in years and Condé Nast's biggest investment outside the United States. After circulation had plummeted from half a million to less than 200,000 per week, the German edition was shut down in 2009.[25]
Events[edit]
As a successor to a similar invitation-only event annually held by the late agent Irving Paul Lazar, the first Vanity Fair Oscar Party took place in 1994.[26] During its first years, the magazine's Oscar party was co-hosted by producer Steve Tisch at Morton's in West Hollywood.[27] At first, editor Graydon Carter kept the invitation list small, at around 120 for dinner.[28] In 2008, in sympathy with a Writers Guild of America strike, Vanity Fair canceled its annual party.[29] Between 2009 and 2013, the party was held at Sunset Tower.[26] The 2014 edition took place in a temporary, 12,000-square-foot glass-walled structure at 8680 Sunset Boulevard.[28] Vanity Fair makes a limited number of invitations available each year for charity.[30][31]
In recent years, Vanity Fair and Bloomberg have hosted an after-party at the French ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C. following the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.[28]
Controversy[edit]
Roman Polanski lawsuit[edit]
In 2005, Vanity Fair was found liable in a lawsuit brought in the UK by film director Roman Polanski, who claimed the magazine had libelled him in an article by A. E. Hotchner published in 2002.[32] The article recounted a claim by Lewis H. Lapham, editor of Harper's, that Polanski had made sexual advances towards a young model as he was traveling to the funeral of his wife, Sharon Tate, in August 1969, claiming that he could make her "the next Sharon Tate". The court permitted Polanski to testify via a video link, after he expressed fears that he might be extradited were he to enter the United Kingdom.[33]
The trial began on July 18, 2005, and Polanski made English legal history as the first claimant to give evidence by video link. During the trial, which included the testimonies of Mia Farrow and others, it was proved that the alleged scene at the famous New York restaurant Elaine's could not possibly have taken place on the date given, because Polanski only dined at this restaurant three weeks later. Also, the Norwegian then-model disputed the accounts that he had claimed to be able to make her "the next Sharon Tate".[34]
Polanski was awarded damages by the High Court in London.[35] The case was notable because Polanski was living in France as a fugitive from U.S. justice,[36] and never appeared in the London court for fear he would be extradited to the U.S. Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, responded, "I find it amazing that a man who lives in France can sue a magazine that is published in America in a British courtroom."[37]
Miley Cyrus photos[edit]
On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that 15-year-old Miley Cyrus had posed topless for a photo shoot with Vanity Fair.[38] The photo, and subsequently released behind-the-scenes photos, show Cyrus without a top, her bare back exposed but her front covered with a bedsheet. The photo shoot was taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz.[39] The full photograph was published with an accompanying story on The New York Times website on April 27, 2008. On April 29, 2008, The New York Times clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless.[40] Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation [that] was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old to sell magazines".[40]
In response to the internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Miley Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."[40] Nearly ten years later to the day, Cyrus took back the Disney apology statement in an Instagram story showing a New York Post front page regarding the story, simply stating "IM NOT SORRY Fuck YOU #10YearsAgo".[41]
Modified photos[edit]
In January 2014, Vanity Fair was under fire for allegedly altering the appearance of a celebrity featured in its pages for its February issue, Lupita Nyong'o, an actress known for her role in 12 Years A Slave. In Nyong'o's case, the magazine tweeted the photo and it began with fans accusing the company of altering her complexion. However, some believe that the Vanity Fair images are simply a product of bright set lighting, rather than deliberate skin lightening. Nyong'o was pleased with the work and saw no harm done to herself; she did not hold Vanity Fair or the photographer liable.[42]
Shortly before the Nyong'o case, Vogue magazine, a partner and buyer of Vanity Fair in 1936, was accused of altering actress Lena Dunham's photos. Dunham considered the modified photos to be offensive.[43][44]
Richard Engel story[edit]
In 2015, Vanity Fair had to update the account it had published by the NBC News correspondent Richard Engel about the disputed circumstances of his 2012 kidnapping in Syria, stating that he had misidentified his captors.[45]
Jeffrey Epstein story[edit]
In 2019, former contributing editor Vicky Ward said her 2003 profile of Jeffrey Epstein in Vanity Fair had included on-the-record accounts of Annie and Maria Farmer (who filed the earliest known criminal complaints about Epstein), but that they were later stricken from Ward's article after Bill Clinton pressured the magazine's editor Graydon Carter.[46][47]