Vogue cover shot of James, Gisele stirs controversy

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The April issue of Vogue magazine shows a snarling LeBron James dribbling a basketball with one hand while the other clutches the slender waist of smiling Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen. Some find the cover shot racist, others do not.

"It conjures up this idea of a dangerous black man," said Tamara Walker, 29, of Philadelphia.

Photographer Annie Leibovitz shot the 6-foot-9 James and the 5-foot-11 Bundchenl for the cover and an inside spread. Vogue spokesman Patrick O'Connell said the magazine "sought to celebrate two superstars at the top of their game" for the magazine's annual issue devoted to size and shape.

"We think Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen look beautiful together and we are honored to have them on the cover," he said.

James told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer he was pleased with the cover, saying he was "just showing a little emotion."

"Everything my name is on is going to be criticized in a good way or bad way," James told the newspaper. "Who cares what anyone says?"

But magazine analyst Samir Husni believes the photo was deliberately provocative, adding that it "screams King Kong." Considering Vogue's influential history, he said, covers are not something that the magazine does in a rush.

"So when you have a cover that reminds people of King Kong and brings those stereotypes to the front, black man wanting white woman, it's not innocent," he said.

Images of black male athletes as aggressive and threatening "reinforce the criminalization of black men," said Damion Thomas, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at University of Maryland.

But others say the image show James¡¦game face ¢w nothing more. And they note that Bundchen hardly looks frightened.

(Agencies)