Vanity Fair's Clinton Jokes Flop, Internet Pounces

'Attempt at humor' viewed as sexist, ageist
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 28, 2017 5:33 AM CST

Vanity Fair's new editor-in-chief has kicked off her tenure with a scandal. The magazine issued an apology Wednesday, four days after a video mocking Hillary Clinton drew outrage on social media, per Deadline. In it, six editors suggest New Year's resolutions for the 2016 presidential candidate while holding glasses of champagne. They suggest Clinton teach a class on alternate-nostril breathing and "take more photos in the woods." But they also say she should abandon her "James Comey voodoo doll," and take up knitting or "literally anything that will keep you from running again," despite the fact that Clinton has stated she is done running for president. "Get someone on your tech staff to disable autofill on your iPhone so that typing in 'F' doesn't become 'Form Exploratory Committee for 2020,'" an editor quips.

Though Fox News sees the video as "light-hearted and in good fun," Erik Wemple's interpretation of it as "snarky and demeaning" is more in line with social media users, who were quick to point out the sexist, ageist air, per the Washington Post. "Hey STOP TELLING WOMEN WHAT THE F--- THEY SHOULD DO OR CAN DO," tweeted Patricia Arquette. One Clinton adviser even used the hashtag #CancelVanityFair, while another burned his copy of the magazine. An editor included in the video initially defended it, noting "this wasn't a Hillary hit piece" and similar videos were made for other politicians, including President Trump, per the Huffington Post. By Wednesday, however, the magazine was trying to quash the backlash. The video "was an attempt at humor and we regret that it missed the mark," a spokesperson said. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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