If you’ve been in reach of a WIFI connection this week, chances are you’ve heard about the controversy surrounding Jessica Simpson’s mention in Vogue’s oral history of the Met Gala.
Just in case you’ve had some reception issues though, we’ll give you a quick recap. Jessica Simpson shared a fiery post to Instagram this week after noticing that her name appeared in Vogue’s article ‘Only at the Met: An Oral History of the World’s Most Glamorous Gala’.
The article was divided up into chapters where assorted contributors reminisced over different parts of the gala. Chapter nine is titled “Never a dull moment!” It saw most folks talk about their wardrobe malfunctions or spontaneous performances by guests… Anna Wintour wrote about a peahen breaking free and flying around the museum.
Sally Singer (the former Vogue creative digital director), however, chose to write about Jessica Simpson. Her words were:
“One year Jessica Simpson was there with John Mayer. She was wearing Roberto Cavalli and her breasts maybe fell out of her dress on the red carpet…and then at dinner it was suddenly like, whoa, Jessica Simpson’s breasts are across from me at the dinner table and they are on a platter and I’m looking at them. And John Mayer was putting his hands on them at the dinner table. He kind of reached down and I just remember thinking, Oh, celebrities, feel free to play here. That’s what’s going on.”
Never mind the fact that a woman wearing a dress that shows cleavage is hardly interesting, it seems insulting that Simpson was reduced to a ditzy celebrity because her boyfriend at the time allegedly groped her.
The singer responded to the comments by sharing the famous photo of Sofia Coppola side-eyeing Jayne Mansfield’s cleavage to Instagram. In her caption she wrote:
“Feeling a little like Jayne Mansfield after reading this (inaccurate!) oral history of the #MetBall where I am body shamed by #SallySinger…
“But in all seriousness I have persevered through shaming my own body and internalizing the world’s opinions about it for my entire adult life. To read this much anticipated article about the classiest fashion event there is and have to be shamed by another woman for having boobs in 2020 is nauseating.”
Since Simpson wore that dress in 2007, there have been countless examples of Met Gala attendees who have chosen to wear risqué outfits. The likes of Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, and even Beyoncé have worn gowns that are particularly low-cut. (Remember the year of the naked dress?!) Power to them! It’s a fashion event; you’re allowed to be extra.
It’s interesting though, that Jessica Simpson – a bigger-busted woman – was singled out in the Vogue article. Having boobs does not make her worthy of a paragraph in chapter nine – especially today.
As Simpson implied in her post, there is no room in 2020 for folks to be shaming a woman for daring to be proud of her body… and definitely not at an event that literally asks its attendees to make bold fashion choices.
Since this post went live, Vogue issued an apology to Jessica Simpson via a statement shared with CNN. They wrote:
“We are sorry that Jessica felt body-shamed by the anecdote in our Met piece. That was never our intent, but we understand her reaction and we apologize for including it.”
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