6. Lebron Was The First Black Man To Vogue Cover
There were only 2 men to have ever graced the cover of Vogue magazine before Lebron got featured. Lebron was the first black man to ever do so.
However there was controversy with the cover photo with some commentators criticizing it for promoting racial stereotypes. James displayed his teeth in what some compared to a gorilla position while dribbling a ball with one hand and wrapping the other around Bundchen’s slender waist with the other.
Some compared it to the picture of “King Kong” and Fay Wray. Tamara Walker, 29, of Philadelphia remarked, “It brings up this notion of a menacing black man.”
Samir Husni, a magazine analyst, stated that the image “screams King Kong” and that he believed it was meant to be offensive. He claimed that given Vogue’s illustrious past, the publication takes its time when creating covers.
“So it’s not innocent,” he continued, “when you have a cover that makes people think of King Kong and puts those stereotypes to the fore, black man wanting white woman.”
Damion Thomas, an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland, claimed that depictions of black male athletes as aggressive and menacing “reinforce the criminalization of black men.”
Others, however, claim that the picture only showed James’ competitive face. They also observed that Bundchen did not appear to be afraid.