Kylie Jenner has recently come under fire for a photoshoot with Interview Magazine where she posed in a gold-plated wheelchair.
Interview Magazine is known for its controversial photoshoots. When Kylie Jenner and Interview Magazine received widespread backlash and media attention after the shoot, the magazine stood by it. In a statement made to ET, they said:
“At Interview, we are proud of our tradition of working with great artists and empowering them to realize their distinct and often bold visions… Throughout the Art Issue we celebrate a variety of women who are both the creators and subjects of their artistic work, and the Kylie feature aims to unpack Kylie’s status as both engineer of her image and object of attention.”
It’s interesting that they claim to celebrate a ‘variety of women’ when the ableism and lack of diversity in the modelling industry is what has sparked the backlash.
Model and activist Amy Richardson commented on Twitter:
“Oh I see! When I’m in a wheelchair no one can look me in the eye but when Kylie Jenner sits in a wheelchair it’s FASHION. Silly me.
“I’m an ACTUAL MODEL and I’ve never been shot in a chair. When I’m in a wheelchair photographers cancel until I can stand up.
“When actual models can’t find work when in their chair but able-bodied people can sit their ass in one and get paid there’s a problem.”
ET contacted Richardson, who has experienced being hung up on and having shoots cancelled altogether when studios found that she uses a wheelchair. Richardson elaborated:
“It’s common for fashion magazines and models to use wheelchairs or other mobility aids to look ‘edgy.’ I would much rather that disabled models were used if a photographer really wanted to do a certain concept using wheelchairs, etc. But most of the time the models used are able-bodied.
“I guess what I and many other disabled people really want is just to be given the same opportunities as everyone else. If disabled people weren’t excluded from the fashion world then there would be no problem with able-bodied people using wheelchairs in fashion. It would all be equal. But right now we’re almost invisible.”
Chelsea Jay is the Director of Disability at Models of Diversity, a campaign founded by Angel Sinclair in 2008. Jay commented on the photoshoot:
“It’s very bad taste that it’s deemed ‘artistic’ to place a celebrity figure in the position of a disabled person in an editorial sense [when] in reality, the fashion industry shuns actual models who in real life depend on these mobility aids, yet are excluded for this exact reason.”
Dr. Danielle Sheypuk, a clinical psychologist and model with a disability, stated:
“If Kylie was known to be actively working to bring beautiful women with disabilities into the spotlight that she enjoys, I would say, ‘Brava!’ If she were sharing the photoshoot with a model with a disability, it wouldn’t seem as gratuitous and gimmicky as it does.”
24-year-old wheelchair user Erin Tatum went a step further and recreated the shoot in her own wheelchair, imitating Jenner’s lifeless expression, to show that pictures like Kylie’s aren’t edgy.
Tatum said:
“I tried my best to create a more authentic version of Kylie Jenner’s interview cover, given that I’m, you know, actually disabled and a real life wheelchair user. I can barely get people to make eye contact with me, let alone land a cover shoot. If being in a wheelchair is trendy now, I’ve apparently been a trendsetter since before Kylie was born.”
Other wheelchair users have also recreated the shoot in their own chairs.
