Self Does Damage Control Over Tutu-Wearing Cancer Survivor
LatestSelf magazine is having a rough week dealing with the fall out from their decision to inadvertently make fun of women running a marathon in tutus who were battling cancer. That struggle was made very clear on Katie Tuesday, during an interview with one of the women at the receiving end of their criticism, Monika Allen, who has an inoperable brain tumor.
Last week, news broke that Self had repurposed a photo of Allen and her friend/business partner Taramae Baize running in tutus they had made to raise money for the charity Girls on the Run for use in the magazine; Self had implied that running in the outfits was “lame.” Shortly after Allen and Baize frustratingly posted about the usage of the photo on Facebook, Self‘s editor Lucy Danziger apologized, saying she hadn’t been aware of the photo and that she was “personally mortified.”
Since then, the magazine has discontinued the column the photo appeared in, which was called “BS Meter.” “BS Meter” was described as their “SELF-y guide to what’s legit and what’s lame this months” and was similar to Glamour‘s “Dos and Don’ts” column that covers the faces of people wearing outfits that magazine deems inappropriate with black bars. “BS Meter” didn’t last long; it was only introduced last June, when Self redesigned their magazine. At that time, it was called “a monthly matrix of trends on a scale from ‘legit’ to total bull,'” all part of a “fresh and modern” new look for the publication.