People Just Ain’t Buyin’ This Crap.

Back again!

Hey, had to get this in: Remember the LeBron James / Gisele Bundchen controversy, back in March? Well, when the numbers came in some months later, it turned out that the issue sold like vomit.

Wrote Condé Nast Portfolio.com columnist Jeff Bercovici, back in July:

Courting controversy is usually a pretty reliable way of selling magazines, but it didn’t work for Vogue‘s April issue. That was the one, you’ll recall, that featured African-American NBA star LeBron James captured by photographer Annie Leibovitz in a pose meant to evoke King Kong. (Okay, “apparently meant to evoke King Kong,” but come on.)

The issue sold 350,000 copies on the newsstand, according to ABC Rapid Report, well below last year’s first-half average of 452,207. It’s Vogue‘s worst-selling April issue since 2001; the month is usually an above-average one for sales thanks to the annual “Shape Issue.”

Remember: This came before the news late last month that Liebovitz, who reportedly has a $2 million/yr contract with Vanity Fair, is $715,000 in the red.

The 58-year-old photographer allegedly owes money for unpaid taxes, an aborted book project, and outstanding equipment rental fees. She’s also at least a year overdue in paying for renovations to her Greenwich Village townhouse, according to the documents.

Hope she didn’t invest with Lehman Brothers.

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1 comment so far ↓

#1 sirensongs on 09.23.08 at 2:36 am

i didn’t see “king kong” in this…. I saw manly, “game face” ready for battle (Ultra Masculine Animus) arm in arm with silky smooth glamour (Ultra Fem Anima). but that’s just me….

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