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edhopper

(37,535 posts)
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:21 PM May 15

Vanity Fair publishes one of the most irresponsible covers I have seen

It's Kylie Jenner, who millions of young people follow. A worldwide "influencer". How blind, unthinking and stupid do the editors have to be to think showing her lighting a cigarette on the cover was anything but a horrible idea?

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Vanity Fair publishes one of the most irresponsible covers I have seen (Original Post) edhopper May 15 OP
Putting any of these terrible people on the cover is a terrible idea. Initech May 15 #1
Would have worked for People. no_hypocrisy May 15 #2
The whole cover looks like a sex parody uppityperson May 15 #3
Yes. I picked up on all that as well. hlthe2b May 15 #7
Yep, that's how it looks to me PatSeg May 15 #17
Yep canetoad May 15 #19
Is it a cigarette or a pre-roll? GreatGazoo May 15 #4
It looks a little short to be a tobacco cigarette, so I'm thinking it's a joint jmowreader May 15 #16
I'm so old I don't even know who she is or what's she's famous for, Ocelot II May 15 #5
Yeah, she's one of those people simply famous mwmisses4289 May 15 #11
Don't worry, I too, am too old to know who she is. LoisB May 15 #12
We live in an age of celebrities PatSeg May 15 #18
That's a bizarre tan she's sporting as well... hlthe2b May 15 #6
Eh hard to get too worked up over that in this day and age. BannonsLiver May 15 #8
Modern blackfacing/blackfishing. I wonder if it was Vanity Fair's idea or hers? Pathetic family. kysrsoze May 15 #9
This is a classic cigarette ad. Are cigarette ads no longer banned? Quiet Em May 15 #10
Editors are saying: "We are all whores and proud of it" cynical_idealist May 15 #13
Newsweek: Smoking Is Cool Again Among Gen Z TheProle May 15 #14
I don't care newdeal2 May 15 #15
Smoking can cause a wide range of health problems. LisaL May 15 #20
Good thing I stopped reading VF years ago or I'd be canceling BigmanPigman May 15 #21
Smoking is increasingly back in pop culture Renew Deal May 15 #22
Smoking is having a pendulum swing GenThePerservering May 16 #23

Initech

(109,313 posts)
1. Putting any of these terrible people on the cover is a terrible idea.
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:26 PM
May 15

So... I don't know?

uppityperson

(116,027 posts)
3. The whole cover looks like a sex parody
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:35 PM
May 15

Sitting widespread ready to fall backwards, minimal shirt and skin tight pants, "Kylie on top" position, pussy cat, smoking an after sex cigarette. Oh baby! Over the top not subliminal references galore.

PatSeg

(53,599 posts)
17. Yep, that's how it looks to me
Fri May 15, 2026, 06:44 PM
May 15

Trying much too hard to be provocative that it comes across as parody. I wonder whose brilliant idea that was.

GreatGazoo

(4,728 posts)
4. Is it a cigarette or a pre-roll?
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:36 PM
May 15

can't see much since the flame is on the way but the article might have context

Ocelot II

(131,305 posts)
5. I'm so old I don't even know who she is or what's she's famous for,
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:37 PM
May 15

unless she's just one of those people who are famous for being famous. But I wouldn't worry too much; I doubt many of her fans are readers of Vanity Fair.

mwmisses4289

(4,751 posts)
11. Yeah, she's one of those people simply famous
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:48 PM
May 15

for being rich and famous.
Quite frankly, I really don't give a damn about any of them; there are much better people vanity fair could have put on their cover.

PatSeg

(53,599 posts)
18. We live in an age of celebrities
Fri May 15, 2026, 06:47 PM
May 15

People who are famous for being famous, but have no redeeming qualities or talents.

As for me, I know the name, but I know nothing about her, probably because there is really nothing to know. I am so tired of all these useless people.

hlthe2b

(114,743 posts)
6. That's a bizarre tan she's sporting as well...
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:51 PM
May 15

I thought for a second, well, she is Armenian, but no, she is not.. The Kardashian sisters are...

So, I guess it is some tanning or tanning product. Her heritage is not that different from my own: English, Irish, Dutch, German, and Scottish roots (her Mom's side) and Canadian, Welsh, English, Irish, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry on their father's (Bruce/Caitlin).

Do I care, Not particularly. I just think it unusual to have her smoking and tan enough to appear ethnically distinct from that which she is. But, hey, it is the Jenner/Kardashian clan, so...

BannonsLiver

(20,875 posts)
8. Eh hard to get too worked up over that in this day and age.
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:54 PM
May 15

Though the Kardashians are worthless scumbag grifters, the whole lot of them, so I can see that angle.

kysrsoze

(6,456 posts)
9. Modern blackfacing/blackfishing. I wonder if it was Vanity Fair's idea or hers? Pathetic family.
Fri May 15, 2026, 12:57 PM
May 15

Doing whatever they can to pimp themselves out.

Quiet Em

(3,033 posts)
10. This is a classic cigarette ad. Are cigarette ads no longer banned?
Fri May 15, 2026, 01:12 PM
May 15

A cigarette ad to make smoking appear glamorous, sexy, cool. This is exactly how cigarettes have been advertised historically. I have no doubt it will be effective in getting some young girls and women to try smoking. Awful cover.

TheProle

(4,122 posts)
14. Newsweek: Smoking Is Cool Again Among Gen Z
Fri May 15, 2026, 06:12 PM
May 15
https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-social-media-celebrities-cigarette-smoking-11149726

Axios: https://www.axios.com/2025/11/29/smoking-cigarettes-trend-generation-z

The big picture: Something's shifted. Young people are talking up smoking again, and celebrities are casually lighting up on screen. Experts worry that they're not paying attention to the dangers of addiction.

- Films and TV shows are bringing cigarettes back as props, too, making them en vogue once again.

- More than half of the top box-office films released in 2024 featured tobacco imagery — marking a 10 percentage point jump from the year before, according to a report from public health nonprofit Truth Initiative and NORC at the University of Chicago

You'd be hard-pressed to miss cigarettes across pop culture.

- Dakota Johnson lights up in the dramedy "The Materialists." The chefs on "The Bear" smoke regularly, with season 3 featuring Carmy's efforts to quit.

- Sabrina Carpenter takes a puff a cigarette with a fork in her "Manchild" music video.

-The Instagram account Cigfluencers posts old and new photos of celebs — including Charli xcx, Natalie Portman and Leo DiCaprio — taking drags.

newdeal2

(5,636 posts)
15. I don't care
Fri May 15, 2026, 06:14 PM
May 15

Tell me when the felon rapist is no longer in the White House. That's a bigger threat to young kids.

LisaL

(47,524 posts)
20. Smoking can cause a wide range of health problems.
Fri May 15, 2026, 07:33 PM
May 15

So promoting it is extremely irresponsible.

BigmanPigman

(55,570 posts)
21. Good thing I stopped reading VF years ago or I'd be canceling
Fri May 15, 2026, 09:23 PM
May 15

my subscription right now.

It is a rich celebrity rag at this point. They've lost all credibility a looooong time ago. It's a shame since they used to be fairly good.

Renew Deal

(85,392 posts)
22. Smoking is increasingly back in pop culture
Fri May 15, 2026, 09:26 PM
May 15

There are other examples. It will be interesting to see if the numbers start moving.

GenThePerservering

(3,749 posts)
23. Smoking is having a pendulum swing
Sat May 16, 2026, 12:12 AM
May 16

but the US is so backward people smoke cigarettes. It's not a lot better (save for those of us who have to smell it), but a lot more people vape at least in Britain, than smoke cigs.

Vanity Fair is so tryhard it's actually funny.

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