SZA says a magazine denied her request for a Black photographer, so she cancelled her cover shoot
- SZA tweeted that she requested a Black photographer for a cover shoot, but the magazine said no.
- "lol its 2021.. and almost Juneteenth . Respectfully I can't do it," she wrote on Tuesday.
- In a follow-up tweet, the singer declined to "expose" the magazine in question ("not my vibe").
SZA revealed on Tuesday that she pulled out of a scheduled cover shoot because the magazine wouldn't hire a Black photographer.
"I requested a black photographer for a cover n the mag told me no lol its 2021.. and almost Juneteenth," she tweeted. "Respectfully I can't do it."
Angry fans demanded to know the culprit, but in a follow-up tweet, the "Good Days" singer declined to "expose" the magazine in question.
"Das not my vibe but there's TOO many elite black creatives rn to not allow it," she wrote.
SZA, whose highly anticipated sophomore album is expected later this year, recently appeared on the covers of Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, and Wonderland.
In a third tweet, she gave each magazine a shout-out for hiring Black photographers: "Gotta celebrate when it's RIGHT too !"
Many decades-old print publications have only recently begun to prioritize diversity in high-profile cover shoots. In 2018, Tyler Mitchell became the first-ever Black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue, hand-selected by Beyoncé. Two years later, Dario Calmese became the first Black photographer to shoot the cover of Vanity Fair.
SZA's own 2019 Rolling Stone shoot was only the magazine's second cover shot by a Black photographer, Campbell Addy.