Refused To Be Cruel

After hosting just seven episodes of Fashion Police, Kathy Griffin has walked — and for all the right reasons. Griffin announced Thursday night on Twitter that the cruel jokes about women management expected her to make were in direct conflict with her values as a prominent feminist and equal rights activist. Griffin wrote:

I thought that I could bring my brand of humor to ‘Fashion Police’ so that beautiful people in beautiful dresses could be teased when appropriate. My brand of humor, while unrepentant and unafraid, is all about context. There is plenty to make fun of in pop culture without bringing people’s bodies into it … I do not want to use my comedy to contribute to a culture of unattainable perfectionism and intolerance towards difference.’

Here is Griffin’s entire statement via Fashionista.

The Real Kerry Washington Fronts Marie Claire April 2015

Scandal star Kerry Washington looks ravishing on the cover of Marie Claire’s April issue. The cover shot contrasts significantly from InStyle’s Jan Welter’s cover of the star, an image that prompted outcries of skin whitening, which InStyle denied. The magazine issued these comments:

‘We have heard from those who have spoken out about our newsstand cover photograph, concerned that Kerry’s skin tone was lightened,’ InStyle said.

‘While we did not digitally lighten Kerry’s skin tone, our cover lighting has likely contributed to this concern.’

‘We understand that this has resulted in disappointment and hurt. We are listening, and the feedback has been valuable. We are committed to ensuring that this experience has a positive influence on the ways in which we present all women going forward.’

Besides the lighting or skin-whitening issue, we note a significant different in the amount of Photoshop used on the two covers. Kerry is much more ‘real’ looking on the Marie Claire cover.

Model Nidhi Sunil Talks ‘Dusky’ Skin

Nidhi Sunil In ‘Summer Kind of Wonderful’ By Porus Vimadalal For Verve India March 2015

In an unplanned editorial intersection today, Bangalore model Nidhi Sunil was featured in our upcoming AOC Shop channel, lensed for luxury lifestyle magazine Verve India.

Nidhi says that being ‘dusky’ is not a drawback for getting jobs in the Indian fashion industry, that she has gotten assignments because of her skin colour. However, she is limited in the TV commercial and music video world, because they prefer a lighter skin tone, in Nidhi’s own words.