Vanity Fair Imagines King James at 310
“Is it creepy to digitally age, clothe, and paint the nails of a woman who died in 1997 and Photoshop her standing next to her son’s new wife, whom she never met, on the cover of an American news weekly? Is that so ‘horribly offensive’? For the sake our forthcoming September issue, we at Vanity Fair certainly hope not.”
The New Republic: If Dead Celebs Came to a Party
The folks at The New Republic, “inspired by [Editor in Chief Tina] Brown’s creativity,” took Newsweek’s cover a few steps further. Their slideshow depicts 16 dead celebrities posing with iPhones, including T.S. Eliot at his writing desk, Sigmund Freud standing (inexplicably) next to Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, and Marilyn Monroe clutching an iPhone in her famous pink dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
The Stir: ‘This Is Pure Brilliance’
In a post dripping with sarcasm, mom-geared blog The Stir called the Diana image “pure brilliance… I’ve never understood why a magazine called Newsweek would waste its time having reporters write about current events or world affairs when it could simply make up stuff.” Writer Suzanne Murray then offered to help out with future stories, suggesting imagined lives for celebrities from Heath Ledger (“Let’s have him attend Matilda’s wedding”) to Kurt Cobain. (“Now that would sell!!”)
Zombie Paul Revere and Sarah Palin?
Popular blog Jezebel started a hilarious conversation with a post titled “Undead Princess Diana Strolls With Kate Middleton on Ridiculous Newsweek Cover.” Though author Dodai Stewart played it mostly neutral, calling Brown’s article “definitely fun and interesting,” the real humor began in the comments section. One commenter wondered, “Who else can weekly news magazines pose talking to each other?” and came up with combinations such as “Zombie Paul Revere and Sarah Palin.” Stewart jumped in with, “Martin Luther King and Jesus Riding dinosaurs in Atlantis.”
Los Angeles Times: ‘Shocking, Brilliant or Just Plain Cheap?’
Readers of the Los Angeles Times’ website were asked what they thought of the “rather jarring” Newsweek cover. Asked if they found the cover offensive, 44 percent said yes—“horribly.” But 28 percent said they only found the image to be “somewhat” offensive, and the rest weren’t so fazed. Almost 9 percent responded, “Heck no, I love!”
Vogue Italia: Past And Present
The magazine mocked up a cover featuring Princess Grace and Charlene Wittstock, the swimmer who is marrying Prince Albert of Monaco on Saturday. Plus, read more about Wittstock.
Read Tina Brown's "Diana at 50" here.