socialite

The editor of a magazine that ran a controversial photo of a Russian socialite using a black woman as a chair prop has apologized for the picture.

Garage editor Miroslava Duma, issued a statement about the image on her Instagram account. 

From Huffington Post:

Dear All, 

Buru247/ru. team and I personally would like to express our sincere apology to anyone we offended and hurt. It was ABSOLUTELY not our intention . We are against racism or gender equality and anything that infringes upon anyone’s rights. We love, respect and look up to people regardless of their race, gender or social status. The chair in the photo should only be seen as a piece of art which was created by British pop-artist Allen Jones, and not as any form of racial discrimination. In our eyes everyone is equal. And we love everybody. 

Read more at Huffington Post

Controversy erupted after the photo of  socialite Dasha Zhukova appeared along with an interview of her for the magazine. Zhukova also released a statement about the backlash:

“The chair pictured in the Buro 24/7 website interview is an artwork created by Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard, one of a series that reinterprets art historical works from artist Allen Jones as a commentary on gender and racial politics. Its use in this photo shoot is regrettable as it took the artwork totally out of its intended context, particularly given that Buro 24/7′s release of the article coincided with the important celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I regret allowing an artwork with such charged meaning to be used in this context. I utterly abhor racism and would like to apologize to those offended by my participation in this shoot.”

Thoughts on their responses?

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