Jason Whitlock at Fox Sports wonders if he's supposed to be angry ("pissed smooth the **** off," is the actual phrase he used) about Annie Leibovitz's latest Vogue cover.  Apparently, someone, somewhere saw "the embodiment of racial and sexual stereotypes" in it, as noted on MSNBC's Family Blog.  Others saw "an aggressive, black man in a King Kong-like pose, embracing a white woman, a Fay Wray-like 'damsel in distress.'"  "LeBron Kong," they're calling him. 

Jemele Hill at ESPN.com called the cover "memorable for all the wrong reasons." She told the Chicago Tribune, "that the image is not unusual — white athletes are generally portrayed smiling or laughing, while black sports figures are given a 'beastly sort of vibe.'" 

What, may I ask, is wrong with this "beastly sort of vibe"?


Let's face it, LeBron was not led in in shackles, and made to act out "racial stereotypes".  Gisele was not abducted, drugged and forced to pose in his beastly arms to sate our bottomless appetite for racially charged, sexually provocative imagery.  They did it for the money.

The magazine denies it's stirring the pot.  Vogue spokesman Patrick O'Connell said the magazine "sought to celebrate two superstars at the top of their game" for the magazine's annual issue devoted to size (which I would like to have seen more of) and shape. "We think Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen look beautiful together and we are honoured to have them on the cover."

But, come on, the cover would not be much fun at all if it depicted LeBron and Jizzy in white wicker chairs in their pink pullovers smiling over tea, now, would it?  A more racially and sexually sensitive scenario might have Gisele as a lap dancer and LeBron as, um, LeBron.  Personally, in keeping with the seriousness of the national conversation, how about Gisele as Hillary and LeBron as Obama?  Now that would have been historic for all the right reasons!

It's true Vogue chose to highlight LeBron's wild side.  And Gisele's hair.  I think it would have been nicer if they'd caught them in a more tender moment.  Naked, tangled up in white sheets, Gisele tucked under one arm, Tom under the other, all three snoozing, while the Mexican maid runs the vacuum in the background.