Vanity Fair is facing major backlash after publishing a profile of Margot Robbie in its August issue. The piece, which includes a little too much fawning over the actress’ looks, has drawn criticism for being “creepy” and “sexist.”
The story, written by Rich Cohen, focuses heavily on Robbie’s appearance instead of her talent. As some readers have pointed out, it often sounds like the journalist is drooling over the Wolf of Wall Street actress. “She is 26 and beautiful, not in that otherworldly, catwalk way but in a minor knock-around key, a blue mood, a slow dance. She is blonde but dark at the roots. She is tall but only with the help of certain shoes,” the profile reads.
The Vanity Fair writer even makes assumptions about how Robbie acts in the bedroom. “She can be sexy and composed even while naked but only in character,” he writes.
At one point, Cohen describes the Australian beauty as a “second semester freshman,” her clothes “simple” and her eyes “painfully blue.” He writes how hard it was to “peg” the actress: “The job of the celebrity journalist: peg ’em so it’s not only as if you know ’em but always have known ’em or someone just like ’em. But Robbie is too fresh to be pegged.”
After a discussion about how awkward it is to film sex scenes, it seems as if Cohen even admits to thinking some not-so-professional thoughts about the Legend of Tarzan star. “We sat for a moment in silence. She was thinking of something; I was thinking of something else,” he writes.
Vanity Fair readers took to Twitter to express how displeased they are with the magazine’s depiction of Robbie. “The sexist, outdated, horny drivel of Margot Robbie’s #VanityFair profile is embarrassing for everyone,” one Twitter user wrote.
“The @VanityFair profile of Margot Robbie sounds like someone’s creepy uncle wrote it. Very odd,” another tweeter wrote.
Other people have taken issue with how the piece paints Robbie’s native Australia. Cohen refers to Australians as “throwback people” who “still live and die with the plot turns of soap operas.” He also calls the country “America 50 years ago, sunny and slow” and a place where “a dingo really will eat your baby.”
“I didn’t realize we were ‘throwback people’ here in Australia @VanityFair. Someone felt a little inadequate interviewing Margot Robbie,” one Australian reader tweeted.
See more reactions below.
@VanityFair shame on you for publishing that “article” on Margot Robbie by Rich Cohen. I nearly drowned in his drool over her.
— Phil Varlese (@PhilVarlese) July 6, 2016
“Margot Robbie is from Australia. They’re in a different time zone there. Also, she’s blonde and I have a boner.” – Rich Cohen, Vanity Fair
— Alanna (@alannallama) July 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/merestam/status/750779165830475776
thanks @VanityFair for letting America’s Greasiest Creepy Uncle profile Margot Robbie. it was illuminating if not for the reason you planned
— Patrick Cosmos (@veryimportant) July 6, 2016
Did the author of Vanity Fair’s Margot Robbie article watch The Simpsons Australia episode and think it was a documentary?
— Michael Byrnes (@MichaelByrnes) July 6, 2016
That Vanity Fair piece really plays into stereotype of Americans not having a clue about anything outside of their country
— Bridie Jabour (@bkjabour) July 6, 2016
“the people of australia are obsessed with low culture television – unlike vanity fair, which is obsessed with medium-culture television”
— Colley (@JamColley) July 6, 2016
Hey @VanityFair. I rewrote that Margot Robbie lede with Alexander Skarsgard. Yep. Still creepy. pic.twitter.com/py9HAUVP4a
— Donna Dickens (@MildlyAmused) July 6, 2016
the guy who wrote that vanity fair profile on margot robbie made it feel about as creepy as humanly possible
— gi (@heIIbIazers) July 7, 2016
