Vanity Fair France Expresses Remorse For Editing Palestinian Flag Out Of Photo
Illustration 240026128 © Erkan Simsek | Dreamstime.com
Ah non! Vanity Fair France has committed a faux pas that’s crossed over to the worlds of fashion and politics. The magazine was found to have altered a photograph of Australian actor Guy Pearce, who had donned accessories showing solidarity for victims of the Israel-Hamas war during the Cannes Film Festival.
In the picture, Pearce was originally seen sporting a small Palestinian flag pin on his lapel. However, the edited version published on the Vanity Fair France website conspicuously omitted the accessory.
So Guy Pearce showed solidarity with Palestine at Cannes by wearing a pin and Vanity Fair decided to photoshop it out. 🇵🇸
— Ahmed Hathout 🇵🇸 (@ahmedhathoutt) May 26, 2024
Little did they know the bracelet was also of the Palestinian flag colors. pic.twitter.com/kxdoVzJa2v
The actor was also wearing a bracelet in the flag’s colors, though that was kept in the image.
The discrepancy came to light after readers compared the photo on the website with an identical portrait posted on Vanity Fair France’s Instagram account, leading to accusations of censorship.
Following the backlash, Vanity Fair France issued a formal apology acknowledging that it “mistakenly published a modified version of this photo on the site.”
It added: “We have rectified our mistake and we apologize.” It also updated its article with a note stating that it has replaced the retouched image with the original version.
Bonsoir. Nous avons publié par erreur sur le site une version modifiée de cette photo. La version originale avait été publiée sur Instagram le même jour. Nous avons rectifié notre erreur, nous présentons toutes nos excuses. https://t.co/1NAb55ghZW
— VANITY FAIR FRANCE (@VanityFairFR) May 26, 2024
