Vogue has a new cover star, and it’s none other than Gigi Hadid. The 29-year-old model graced the front of the prestigious fashion spread once again, this time draped in a Valentino gown and captured through the lens of controversial photographer extraordinaire Annie Leibovitz. While the cover itself is classic Vogue, the accompanying Hairspray-inspired video titled ‘Gigi Can’t Stop The Beat’ has got the internet buzzing—for all the wrong reasons.

Is Vogue fatphobic? It’s the question on everyone’s lips, with the magazine facing backlash for producing a homage to Hairspray that is completely devoid of plus size models, despite the musical originally being about challenging thinness and other prevailing beauty standards.

For context, Hairspray is a musical set in 1962. It follows Tracy Turnblad, an overweight high school student, whose dream it is to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life The Buddy Deane Show.

However, her dreams are smashed by Velma Von Tussle, a racist producer working on the show, and her daughter Amber. They reject Tracy at the audition because of her figure, alongside a young Black girl called Little Inez.

Hairspray is an iconic musical that highlights the solidarity and overlap that can exist between fat people and the fight for racial equality, which is why it is considered an effervescent pop culture staple.

In the video that aired on 11 March 2025, Hadid embodies the show’s feisty and upbeat spirit, first by performing a song dressed as the character of Penny, Tracy’s best friend.

However, one or two eyebrows started to raise when she appeared styled as Tracy Turnblad, the musical’s main character. Considering Hadid’s notably thin figure and conventionally attractive appearance, it didn’t exactly manage to reflect the musical’s radical thought.

The clip also features special guests such as Broadway star Cole Escola, who plays Tracy’s shy and overweight mother, as well as designer Marc Jacobs, and actor Laverne Cox. The last, portrays Motormouth Maybelle, a character who sings an entire song about being “Big, Blonde and Beautiful,” despite Cox being visibly slim and sculpted.

So, the fact that a supposed homage to a musical about plus-sized individuals and people of colour barely had any members of either group in it didn’t sit right with netizens… at all.

what the fuck was vogue’s point in doing a hairspray homage if they weren’t even gonna use any plus size models?? pic.twitter.com/qSUd6QfvgT

— nicki (@taurusies) March 11, 2025

american vogue has been pissing me off for years now, but them doing a hairspray inspired editorial video and casting gigi hadid as tracy turnblad has pushed me over the edge.

— Julia (@JuliaGrace1353) March 11, 2025

Who ever approved Gigi Hadid to be Tracy in vogues hairspray shoot has never seen hairspray they didn’t even look up the plot 😭

— Lily 🌷🌿 (@l_curry6) March 12, 2025

@voguemagazine interesting choice to have a Hairspray-inspired cover shoot with only skinny and (almost all) white models when the musical is literally about equality and respect for black, and plus sized people pic.twitter.com/DlQZsHmD11

— Gaybe 🏳️‍🌈 (@alves_gabes) March 12, 2025

Fans started to accuse the magazine of ‘thin-washing’ for erasing the plus-sized people, who this musical was meant for, from the story.

“Paying homage to hairspray without a single fat person on the stage should be a felony,” one user on Reddit noted. “Yeah, they’re completely leaving out one of the key plot points…” someone else argued.

Another user stated: “This is just what Hairspray would’ve looked like if the racist mom won.”

“Hairspray as directed by Velma Von Tussle,” another comment stated. “Maybe Yolanda Hadid directed the homage,” a different user argued in response.

Of course, multiple netizens started to jump to Hadid’s defence, noting that she was mainly impersonating the pretty and blonde villain Amber, rather than the marginalised Tracy.

In fact, the video description states that Hadid “played Amber von Tussle at just nine years old in a production of Hairspray” and was revisiting her childhood with this special rendition of ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’.

Still, a lot of users still noted that this wasn’t the right musical feature to cast Hadid in, considering how outspoken she has been about social justice in the past.

Gigi Hadid is impersonating Hairspray’s Amber not Tracy if you actually read the Vogue article before commenting and they posted this picture of 9yo gigi when she also impersonated Amber, not Tracy https://t.co/Qpe8zThu12 pic.twitter.com/n1VtsoSZpH

— franck sorbier (@helloahihowru) March 12, 2025

a homage to hairspray but it’s amber-centric and no plus sized folks… https://t.co/OtcvDJWYzI pic.twitter.com/i3orH5tSJs

— wil justice 🪩✨️ (@wiljustice921) March 12, 2025

Gigi Hadid’s vogue cover being Hairspray inspired is frying me like is she supposed to be Amber?? The racist villain?? 😭 pic.twitter.com/rzwHJVOpg3

— spawn of baby gorgeous (@br0cc0lis0up) March 12, 2025

Lastly, centring the “objectively awful” von Tussles as the main character was still perceived as tone-deaf by many.

Neither Vogue nor Gigi Hadid have commented on the controversy surrounding the video yet.