The inside story: How Melania Trump reacted to Vanity Fair cover offer

Vanity Fair’s offer to feature Melania Trump on its cover had sparked staff outrage and a debate among Fox News hosts

melania-trump-memoir-afp

Former model and First Lady Melania Trump has graced hundreds of covers over her decade-long   career, but the prospect of her gracing the Vanity Fair cover has had tongues wagging. While a section of Vanity Fair staff flipped out at the prospect of Melania gracing the cover, a new report has lifted the lid on how the First Lady reacted to the offer.

Melania Trump laughed at the Vanity Fair request and rejected it immediately, a report by the New York Post quoting a fashion source familiar with the First Lady’s thinking. “She doesn’t have time to be sitting  in a photo shoot. Her priorities as First Lady are far more important… These people don’t deserve her anyway,” the person added.

This comes amid reports that Vanity Fair global editorial director Mark Guiducci tried to woo Melania Trump to appear on the cover. However, once the plan leaked, Vanity Fair employees threatened to quit their jobs. A staff member reportedly told the management that he “would walk out and half my staff will follow me”. “We are not gonna normalise this desp*t and his wife; we’re just not going to do it. We’re going to stand for what’s right,” he added.

Fox hosts on Melania Trump

The magazine cover row took another turn when Fox News hosts Jesse Watters and Brian Kilmeade were heard lavishing praise on the First Lady’s beauty. Kilmeade called Guiducci’s proposal to feature Melania as a tactic to “maximize the viewership. To this,Watter said: “Was Jill [Biden] on the cover?” Watters asked. “Was Michelle Obama on the cover?”

Kilmeade answered that Jill appeared on the cover of sister publication Vogue twice, and Michelle three times. (Hillary Clinton did so once, too.) “Okay. Do you think those two women are prettier than Melania Trump?” he asked. “No, do you think they’re prettier?” Watters pushed. “Is it not about pretty? Is it about fashion? Because Melania’s also more fashionable.”

“Right,” Kilmeade agreed. “She’s the most attractive first lady ever, let’s be honest.”

Join our WhatsApp Channel to get the latest news, exclusives and videos on WhatsApp