Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka has become the first black athlete to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated’s famous annual swimsuit edition.
Osaka, 23, is one of three cover stars for the fabled August edition that also includes the rap artist Three Stallion and the first transgender cover star, Leyna Bloom.
The magazine issue’s theme is “Opening Eyes, Speaking Truths and Changing Minds.”
Osaka was named one of the 2020 Sports Illustrated Sportspersons of the Year for her activism.
The former world number one recently grabbed global headlines after she withdrew from last month’s French Open citing mental health issues, primarily brought on by probing questions from journalists at post-match press conferences. She also missed the recent Wimbledon tournament.
However, Osaka has announced her return to the court and will represent her native Japan at the Olympics starting on Friday.
Not that the tennis ace’s magazine efforts have impressed everyone, namely some conservative media commentators in the US who questioned why someone suffering mental health issues would be posing in a bikini on a men’s magazine.
Conservative commentator Clay Travis started the stoush with a tweet that read: “Since saying she’s too introverted to talk to the media after tennis matches, Naomi Osaka has launched a reality show, a Barbie, and now is on the cover of the SI swimsuit issue.”
Former NBC News and right-wing commentator, Megyn Kelly, then responded to Travis’ tweet with this missive: “Let’s not forget the cover of (& interview in) Vogue Japan and Time Mag!”
The attacks soon caught the attention of Osaka, who replied by taking her own swipe at Kelly, saying that she shot her Sports Illustrated cover and others back in 2020 — well before she decided to take a break from tennis last month.
Osaka responded: “Seeing as you’re a journalist I would’ve assumed you would take the time to research what the lead times are for magazines, if you did that you would’ve found out I shot all of my covers last year.
“Instead your first reaction is to hop on here and spew negativity, do better Megan.”
Osaka has since blocked Kelly on the social media app.
That didn’t stop a defiant Kelly who again tweeted: “Poor @naomiosaka blocked me while taking a shot at me (guess she’s only tough on the courts). She is apparently arguing that she shot her many covers b/4 publicly claiming she was too socially anxious to deal w/press. Truth is she just doesn’t like Qs she can’t control. Admit it.”
