Photo: Courtesy of Elle
It's safe to say it's been a rough week for Elle. The women's mag set off a veritable firestorm when it released the new covers of the annual Women In Hollywood issue. Melissa McCarthy, Shailene Woodley, Reese Witherspoon, Naomie Harris, Marion Cotillard, and Penélope Cruz each front their own respective versions, all looking especially beautiful, if we do say so ourselves. But, the problem that many bloggers and media commentators found was that while Woodley, Cotillard, and the like are photographed in skimpy dresses, crop tops, and swimsuits, McCarthy is shown in an oversized coat that leaves everything to the imagination. Critics slammed the mag for covering up the curvy actress, and Slate even went so far as to call McCarthy Elle's "token plus-size cover girl."
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Of course, Elle didn't keep mum for too long, releasing the following statement in response: "On all of our shoots, our stylists work with the stars to choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different: Melissa loved this look, and is gorgeous on our cover. We are thrilled to honor her as one of our Women in Hollywood this year."
For Melissa's part, she didn't seem to be too bothered by the cover — in fact, she seemed thrilled with it all. "[Elle is] a magazine I grew up with and I hadn’t done anything quite like that," she said in a previous interview. "I was nervous.… It was kind of amazing."
In our opinion, we think that Melissa looks fantastic on the cover (you've got to tell us how to get that blowout, girl!), but the detractors' criticisms are completely valid. One look at the contrast between each actress' outfit says it all, and it's extremely disappointing to see a magazine treating a woman differently simply because of her size. Let us know what you think of McCarthy's cover — and Elle's response — below. (Business Insider)