Last month longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour's former BFF Andre Leon Talley announced his new memoir would be taking Anna to task for her icy demeanor and mistreatment of Black creatives [click here if you missed that].
Another fashion insider recalls Anna Wintour's horrible treatment of Beverly Johnson, the first African American model to make the cover of Vogue...
From Page Six
...the supermodel’s former publicist James Hester told Page Six he had to fight tooth and nail to get Johnson invited to the mag’s 100th anniversary party in 1992 — and even then Wintour snubbed the model at the bash.
“Beverly made history as the first African American model to grace the cover of Vogue and they refused to invite her. It was a momentous occasion and obviously a huge moment in Beverly’s life. They kept saying, ‘We’ll get back to you’,” Hester said, “So, I had to get creative. I was working with C&C Music Factory and they were huge at the time, producing for Mariah Carey. I made a deal that they would dj for free and [“Deeper Love”] singer Deborah Cooper would perform in exchange for coverage in the magazine,” Hester told Page Six. “Anna Wintour gets the message, and I deliver them. I go back and I make another deal and said, Beverly Johnson would really love to be invited, and they finally agreed.”
Author Hester attempted to introduce Johnson to Wintour at the event. “I go up to her, and tell her I organized the music. I then asked, ‘Do you know Beverly Johnson?’ She said, ‘Yup,’ and walked away,’” he said.
Wintour did, however, include Johnson in the party coverage, but not in the way they hoped. “There was a double-page spread with a collage of pictures. Beverly’s picture was in there with her head cut off. [Wintour] has been awful to the black community,” he said.
