Before the internet made it so we could read all about the latest trends and news and stuff as it happened, there was the magazine. While many will argue that print is a dying art as more and more people receive their information via the internet, there is something to be said about the old ways of journalism, namely, the original form of click-bait; magazine covers. From TIME to LIFE to People, there has always been an unspoken competition in order to make you want to pick up this magazine over that magazine. Destination Luxury is proud to present the 10 most controversial magazine covers.
MORE DEMI MOORE
Way back in 1991, Vanity Fair had a very pregnant Demi Moore pose in the nude for their August issue. Praised as obscene by some and beautiful by others, this image has been often replicated but rarely to the extent that Demi Moore managed to pull it off.
THE PASSION OF KANYE WEST
Kanye West is known for having a personality that’s hard to contain, and an ego to match. It’s no surprise that a man who has claimed to be a God in several tracks would have himself depicted as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone. While it upset many conservative and Christian organizations, it’s hard to argue the eye-catching cover.
BREAK THE INTERNET
From Kanye to Kim, we go to the image that did what it set out to do: Break the internet. In 2014, Paper Magazine decided to feature one of Kim Kardashian’s most important assets; her bottom. Oiled up and dressed in nothing but pearls and gloves, this cover was both sexy and trashy rolled into one. Often parodied and discussed, all this writer can do is hum “Anaconda” while looking at it.
YEP, I’M GAY
Hard to believe that everyone’s favorite daytime TV personality could ever be at the heart of a major controversy, but Ellen DeGeneres caused quite a stir in 1997 when she came out a lesbian on the cover of TIME magazine. Showing how much forward momentum we’ve had in under 20 years, Ellen’s career is bigger than ever and she’s happily married to Portia de Rossi.
PLAYBOY OCTOBER 1971
The 1970s were a big year of change for America, with major steps in both feminism and black representation. While it’s hard to argue that Playboy can be called a feminist publication, in October of 1971 they published the first magazine to feature an African American centerfold with the late Darine Stern.
THE BOMBER
After the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013, America was in shock and in a panic which was only quelled when the perpetrators were found to be brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. How did Rolling Stone speak of a man responsible for 5 deaths and 280 injuries? By calling him “a popular, promising student who was failed by his family.”
THE BLUNT REALITY OF THE WAR IN VIETNAM
In November 1965 the Vietnam War was raging, protests were happening across the country, and LIFE magazine managed to summarize the entirety of the war with this stark and admittedly brutal image. Hard to look at and hard not to at the same time.
YOKO AND JOHN
Rolling Stone makes it’s third appearance on our list, this time featuring a rather intimate moment with rock legend John Lennon and then-wife, artist and peace activist Yoko Ono. The image is sexy and intimate and completely flips the expected with Yoko being fully clothed and Lennon being in the nude.
THE DIXIE CHICKS COME CLEAN
Back in the early 2000s, country starlets The Dixie Chicks raised major controversy by speaking against George Bush and his “War on Terrorism” in a time where all of America was caught up in a blindly patriotic fervor. What did they do about it? Pose naked with many of the words thrown in their direction plastered on their body, of course!
ARE YOU MOM ENOUGH?
Ohhhh wow. Back in 2012, TIME magazine had an article about attachment parenting and how it can make some mothers go to extreme lengths. An interesting topic, and mostly harmless. Then you look at the cover with a three year old suckling off his mother’s chest. The only word to summarize it? Shocking.
So that’s Destination Luxury’s most controversial magazine covers. What’s your thoughts: Were you shocked by any of them, or did they just leave you snoozing? Let us know in the comments below!
