As I was reading the Stylephile yesterday, I came across this illustration. The caricature was published in the New York Observer spoofing the controversial Vogue cover. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, filled in for LeBron James and Si Newhouse, chairman of Conde Nast, Vogue’s publisher, replaced supermodel Gisele Bundchen. The faux cover ran in a string of editorials called, “Mag as Hell.”

The original cover was viewed by many as racist because it mirrored the old “King Kong” movie posters where James was portrayed as the beast himself. Wintour’s reputation as the fierce and sometimes brutal editor-in-chief made her the perfect target for this spoof. She was, after all, the inspiration for the wildly popular film “The Devil Wears Prada.” As a long-time subscriber and eternal-lover of Vogue, I hate to think of Wintour in such a negative way. But the media sure like to target her.

Obviously, Bundchen plays the damsel in distress on the original cover. Needless to say, the New York Observer made a strong statement portraying such a powerful person like Newhouse in this position. It’s as if the Observer is saying that if Vogue depicted anyone as a beast on its cover it should have been its own editor-in-chief, Wintour.