In this op-ed, Teen Vogue Editor in Chief Versha Sharma calls on fashion media to stop covering Kanye West without criticism.
Before Kanye West sent models down the runway wearing “White Lives Matter” T-shirts, before he posed in one himself with right-wing personality Candace Owens, before he started using his massive platform to bully a successful Black woman in fashion who dared to be somewhat critical of him, I tweeted a plea for fashion media to stop breathlessly covering everything he does.
This is not a new conversation — it’s one we’ve been having at Teen Vogue for years — but it picked up steam again this weekend when he opened the Balenciaga show at Paris Fashion Week, generating myriad headlines and social media posts about his runway debut. Not one of these mentions seemed to wonder at the irony of creative director Demna saying the show was about “digging for the truth” and being “down to earth” despite it having been opened by a conspiracy theorist who wants very, very badly to make it in luxury fashion.
My frustration had already been building, as I scrolled through a slew of photos in my Instagram feed a few days before this about Kanye’s socks-and-bedazzled-sandals look, which CNN called “the look of the week.” Almost every time Kanye steps out in clothing, period, I see a post about it on at least a few fashion Instagram accounts, including men’s style publications and indie magazines. I wonder at this, as those same publications are promoting thoughtful discussions about toxic masculinity and critiques of racism and elitism in fashion — but they still keep playing into this particular Yeezy circus.
Now, finally, Kanye seems to have crossed a line that many in fashion media will not allow. After highly respected fashion editor and barrier-breaking stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson posted critically about his Paris show featuring the “White Lives Matter” shirts, Ye took to his Instagram account Tuesday morning to start attacking Gabriella personally and relentlessly. To be clear: he’s bullying her because she dared to disagree with him, which should not be a surprise to anyone who saw his harassing behavior toward Kim Kardashian this past year.
Despite Kanye’s attacks, Gabriella’s critique was actually quite generous toward him. She said she could see what he was possibly trying to achieve, but that it landed completely wrong, and she disagreed with it. But her nuanced thoughtfulness wasn’t enough to stop one of the most famous people in the world from going after her personally, serving up yet another example of Kanye’s infantile and cruel behavior. In addition to the blatant disrespect this signifies, we know from Donald Trump, from Tucker Carlson, what happens when you sic a cultist following on a woman on social media: everything from trolls to death threats. Gabriella deserves precisely none of this.
It’s time to draw a clear line in the sand.
There is no purpose for this kind of conduct, and it only gets enabled by free, fawning media attention. So, again, I come with a plea to fashion editors, journalists, headline writers, social media managers, and editors-in-chief: Please. Stop. Covering. Kanye. Uncritically.
Every post about one of his “‘fits of the day,” every tweet about his latest collaboration (which will eventually fall apart), every meeting you take or show you cover — it’s all enabling, complicit behavior. We need to make a collective, concerted effort to stop, and make it last for more than one season, as one of my staff members said this morning.
Since I started my current job, we’ve had thoughtful conversations among staff about whether it’s worth covering the latest Yeezy collaboration (it’s not), or if/how we cover him, period. I have wondered at the breathlessness of fashion media coverage of him and been told that it’s all about clicks, it’s all about money — and it’s all about people who may not want to look closely at the type of behavior they’re enabling or amplifying.
I started my career in political journalism, and I believe there are lessons fashion and culture writers can take from the ongoing media debate over how to cover a conspiracy-theory-touting narcissist like former President Trump. Any uncritical airtime or website/social media space you offer only adds fuel to the fire of attention-seeking. If you must cover them, cover them with context, an eye toward accuracy, reality, history, and motivation. And know that each bit of attention you give them is attention you’re not giving to someone else, including young, emerging designers who may deserve a chance.
Editors, writers, commentators: You have more power and influence than you may think. People follow you for a reason. Consider how to use that platform responsibly.
I have some hope that things will be different this time — at least temporarily — but not a lot. I am seeing people who have often stayed silent about Ye or contributed to uncritical coverage of him now question themselves openly, question their complicity in making or keeping him relevant. Part of me is frustrated that it took him stooping this low to get people to wake up — his previous flirtations with MAGA, anti-Blackness, and toxic behavior weren’t enough?! — but some progress is better than none.
Sadly, I also think the renewed positive media coverage of Dolce & Gabbana may be a prescient model that shows, with time, these things blow over and people choose to forget. (Shout-out to stylist and creative Shibon Kennedy for saying we need to stop on both counts.)
As Shelton Boyd-Griffith writes for us in a forthcoming op-ed, “If we're being honest, Kanye feels safe and at home in fashion because, systematically, fashion has always been a safe space for anti-Blackness, misogyny, fatphobia, and all-around bigotry.”
Like Shelton, I used to be a Kanye fan. I loved his albums, I went to his concerts, I defended him to my white friends when I thought they were being unfair. I’m from Louisiana, and when he called out George W. Bush for the massive government failures after Hurricane Katrina, I thought it was iconic. I know I’m not alone in feeling like the not-so-new Kanye is, in many ways, a betrayal of the old Kanye — something even he has acknowledged.
He has shown us who he is again and again. We shouldn’t be surprised. We should change how we react, because he certainly isn’t. Whether it’s MAGA hats or Candace Owens, I can’t say that he has shown any interest in substantively challenging white supremacy in a long, long time. Actually, he seems quite comfortable with appeasing it.
I also recognize that my voice is far from the most important one in this conversation. Listen to Black women. Many, like Shibon, have posted at length and eloquently about this latest debacle. Others have reminded us of the still heartbreakingly relevant 1962 quote from Malcolm X: “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”
Ruth Samuel, a culture writer for HuffPost, makes a point on her Instagram also worth mentioning here: “Anti-Blackness is *not* a comorbidity associated with bipolar disorders and/or neurodivergence! They are wholly unrelated, and [Kanye] is just obsessed with the white gaze.”
Hire Black writers and amplify their voices. We’ll continue to do that here at Teen Vogue, on this topic — look out for Shelton’s op-ed soon — and others.
Just remember: every decision you make is a choice.
