Fantasia Barrino Receives Apology After Editor Makes Fun of Illiteracy
Fantasia Barrino, former American Idol winner and singer, received an apology after the Jet magazine editor-in-chief made fun of her issues with illiteracy.
Barrino, 28, took to her Instagram account to rant about the publication's decision to use a 10-year-old image of her on their cover instead of a new image sent by her team. The singer publicly requested a public apology from the publication.
"This saddens Me!!! It is clear that this picture is 10 Years Old and JET Magazine puts it on the Cover!! And I send them the NEW LOOK AND DIRECTION..SAD," Barrino wrote on Instagram. "I WANT A PUBLIC APOLOGY FROM JET. Now I'm not sure if the interview is correct. SEE!!!"
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The singer went on to say that the rant was a symbol of her taking a stand.
"America they and use me as they crash Dummy BUT NO MORE," Barrino continued on Instagram. "IF I DON'T STAND FOR SOMETHING ILL FALL FOR ANYTHING."
Mitzi Miller, the editor-in-chief at Jet, issued a public statement following Barrino's rant to explain why the publication decided to use an older image for their cover.
"JET magazine is honored to have Fantasia grace the cover of its March issue. It is unfortunate that Fantasia is displeased with the cover selection, however JET stands by its decision," Miller said in the statement. "As standard editorial practice, JET consulted with Fantasia's team, but reserves the right to select the image we deem as most appropriate for JET's brand and reflective of the cover story sentiment."
After issuing the statement, Miller also decided to take things a bit further in a rant about the issue on her personal Facebook page. In the statement, Miller made mention of Barrino's issues with illiteracy that were made public in the past.
"The fact that I wasted an hour of my workday writing a press release to address an issue created by a person who cannot even read it is just… #whyiwannaBahousewife," Miller wrote on the social networking website.
Barrino has been open about her issues with reading, speaking about it in her 2005 memoir "Life is Not a Fairy Tale" which she vocalized to a freelance writer. Soon after making her post on Facebook about the singer's issues with reading, the Jet editor in chief decided to apologize for the statement.
"I apologize for the lack of sensitivity shown in my FaceBook post. It was a thoughtless comment made during a moment of frustration. It was unprofessional and not representative of the JET mission, which is to uplift," Miller said in a Madame Noire report. "I regret letting my emotions get the best of me. I am truly apologetic."
