Journalists from Vanity Fair and Harper’s magazine have issued apologies after facing backlash for comments about 7-year-old Blue Ivy Carter.
The writers criticized the appearance of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s daughter, saying they “feel so sorry” for her, and suggesting there is “plastic surgery” in her future.
Related Story: CBS News ‘Deeply’ Regrets Mistaking Congressman Elijah Cummings for John Lewis
The two made the comments in response to pictures shared on Instagram by Megan Thee Stallion that showed the rapper ringing in the New Year with Beyoncé and Blue Ivy.
After seeing the photos, Vanity Fair film critic K. Austin Collins tweeted: “I have a feeling the Jay Z face genes are about to really hit Blue Ivy and I feel so sorry for her.”
Collins deleted the tweet, but several people made screen grabs and shared it across social media.
In case anyone is confused about why people are upset @melvillmatic insults Blue Ivy (a child!) & then @unbuttonmyeyes replies with a crack about plastic surgery. Now he works for @VanityFair & she works @Harpers in case you ever wondered about media influence & misogynoir pic.twitter.com/RqwTPWVvpX
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) January 1, 2020
Violet Lucca, a web editor for Harper’s replied to Collins, “Or she’ll just get plastic surgery at 16 a la Kylie Jenner and we’ll all have to pretend that she always looked that way…I can’t allow myself to feel too sorry for the incredibly rich!”
Lucca also deleted her tweet, but the posts went viral prompting the two journalists to apologize.
“I’m sorry about the Blue Ivy tweet — bad joke, and black girls in particular deserve better,” tweeted Collins.
https://twitter.com/melvillmatic/status/1212534810750652417
Lucca admitted her tweet was “petty,” but said she was called worse, including “racist” by people reacting to her comments.
“Sorry I was cleaning my apartment while this blew up,” she responded to critics. “Children of famous ought to be off limits, but time and again they haven’t been. So I said something petty and have been called ugly, old, and a racist.”
Lucca is white and Collins is black. After facing more criticism, Lucca said she wasn’t looking for sympathy.
“I’m not playing the victim,” she added. “Sorry that I insulted Beyoncé’s daughter by suggesting that she might get plastic surgery some day, like many children of famous people do.”
https://twitter.com/unbuttonmyeyes/status/1212525326867283974?s=20
“I always emulated the beauty of makeup in Japanese theater, and the beautiful, carefully painted faces of geishas and maikos,” says Harper. “I found the stark contrast of white, black, red, and cherry-blossom rose to be so beautiful. I now play with a much wider palette of influences and colors. But this original inspiration has always led me to my somewhat go-to makeup look: red lips, pale smooth skin, pink cheeks, and delineated eyes with black hair.” Here she augments that look with a giant Pierce Atkinson headdress.