Vanity Fair Waithe cover draws praise

Vanity Fair has made waves with its covers before. But never has the reaction been so positive. Last week, the magazine shared its April cover star: Ready Player One actress, The Chi creator and Master of None Emmy winner Lena Waithe. The decision to feature a Hollywood up-andcomer and queer person of colour on the cover, was made by new VF editor Radhika Jones. “When I thought about the kind of person I’d like to see on the cover of Vanity Fair, I thought about Lena Waithe—a member of the new creative elite remaking entertainment for her generation,” Jones wrote. Here’s how celebrities reacted to seeing an Annie Leibowitz-shot portrait of Waithe on VF’s cover: “You’re changing the game by centring this game-changer on the @VanityFair cover. You’ve done something big here,” said Ava DuVernay, who directed I Will Follow, a movie Waithe was a production assistant on. “Beautiful and well deserved,” wrote Chadwick Boseman. Mindy Kahling said, “I am shook.” Gabrielle Union said: “For so many of us we don’t feel seen. Truly SEEN. Our talent, work, lives, bodies and even our breath has not been valued. I needed to see this cover today.” Lupita Nyong’o wrote, “All hail @LenaWaithe for @VanityFair!!!” “I love you, sis,” Tessa Thompson wrote to Waithe.” Also, this is without a doubt THE FLYEST cover I’ve maybe ever seen — because you are fly and because it looks like the future.” Zendaya called the cover “beautiful.”