American TV personality and convicted crim Martha Stewart has become the oldest person on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition at 81 years old.
Stewart, posing on the cover in a white swimsuit with a gold cover-up draped over her shoulders, was one of four cover models alongside Megan Fox, Kim Petras and Brooks Nader.
“When I heard that I was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I thought, Oh, that’s pretty good, I’m going to be the oldest person I think ever on a cover of Sports Illustrated,” Stewart said.
“And I don’t think about age very much, but I thought that this is kind of historic.”
Stewart, who worked as a model for brands including Unilever and Chanel when she was younger, runs the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia publishing empire which apparently reaches more than 100 million consumers every month with its magazines, TV shows, books and products. She has also published 99 lifestyle books and has won an Emmy for her presenting work.
“There is no theme [to this year’s issue]—rather, there is a vision, a sentiment, a hope that women can live in a world where they feel no limitations, internally or externally,” said SI Swimsuit editor-in-chief MJ Day.
“But the absence of a theme is not to say that [these women] don’t share certain common traits. They’re constantly evolving.”
Naturally, the internet erupted with some praising Stewart and the publication for her good looks and its commitment to different standards of beauty. Others, meanwhile, said that it was less than a good look for all involved.
She’s officially lost any class she ever had left
— Boujee🎀 (@TankGirl1980) May 16, 2023
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
— Dave Kucera (@dave_kucera) May 15, 2023
🙌🏻
— Sarah Valerio O’Connell (@Sarah_SV) May 15, 2023
Even Korean tech company Samsung got involved.
Synonym for Martha Stewart is ICON!
— Samsung US (@SamsungUS) May 15, 2023
However, writing in the Guardian, British journalist Zoe Williams said that “real change would be more than the tokenism of one magazine cover. Just see Edward Enninful’s Vogue for true inclusivity.”
Transgender woman Petras, Stewart’s fellow cover model, also caused a stir for predictable reasons.
Why do you all hate women?
— Natasha (The Conservative Hippie) (@TMraye) May 16, 2023
You guys gonna have Rachel Dozel next year to continue the trend of people, pretending to be things they’re not?
— Rebecca V-Devoted Reality Believer (@RebeccaAVelo) May 16, 2023
