After a photo of US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the Vogue cover sparked serious controversy, Anna Wintour, the magazine’s editor-in-chief defended the image. 

Criticisms of the photo have been going around social media with people claiming it be a poor portrayal of the image of the first Black woman to be serving as the Vice President of the US. 

The photo was clicked by Tyler Mitchell, who became the first Black photographer to capture shots of Beyonce for the cover of Vogue. The photo of the incoming Vice President shows her wearing a blazer and jeans. 

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Wintour, the editor of the magazine, picked the casual photo to feature on the cover instead of a more formal photo which showed the Vice President-elect wearing a Michael Kors set.

The controversy around the photo has been traced back to “poor lighting” and “lightened skin tone” by critics on various social media handles. 

Wintour said in a statement, “Obviously we have heard and understood the reaction to the print cover and I just want to reiterate that it was absolutely not our intention to, in any way, diminish the importance of the Vice President-elect’s incredible victory.” 

“I cannot imagine that there’s anyone that really is going to find this cover anything but that, and positive, and an image of a woman in control of her life who is going to bring us with the president-elect the leadership that we so need,” Wintour said in a podcast called “Sway”. 

Kamala Harris, 56, has not officially made a statement on the whole controversy but did express that she was surprised by the choice of the photo. 

After being roped into during the Black Lives Matter protests, Wintour apologized for not giving enough work to Black Stylist and photographers. 

Wintour added that she also took “full responsibility” for “publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant.”

Rumors that she would resign circulated, but the British-born 71-year-old — described by Forbes magazine in 2017 as the “most powerful woman” in media — has remained at the helm of Vogue.

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“We’ve heard the complaints and the issues that have been raised by everybody who works at Conde Nast and we’re working towards, I think, a lot of very positive change,” she said in the podcast.