SZA requested a black photographer for a magazine cover, got denied

[StrawberryBlond 13,551]

1 hour ago, GagaSine said:

Girl it was a joke, I was not responding to you but the user that quoted you,  in fact my joke implies that the racist is not you. You're not a victim in every single situation. Also you comment everywhere and people quote you all the time so sadly I see your opinions anyway.

Obviously you were responding to the user who quoted me but the joke was aimed at me and is used as a frequent joke when people want to say my name without saying it. Clearly, you substituted strawberry for blueberry and blond for brunette as an opposite joke and assumed I was too stupid to notice and naive enough to accept your explanation shown here. I never claimed to be a victim in every situation but when people spread lies about me, then I am the victim. You, alongside others, have incorrectly labelled me racist before and it deeply affects me. If you don't like me, that's fine but don't spread falsehoods about me. For all that you claim you find so many people rude I find the way you treat me to be very rude. If you're going to dislike me that much, just truly ignore my comments and don't reply to them. Keep to your word about ignoring me instead of jeering from the sidelines.

[LittleMonster20 9,575]

2 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

I really think some people need to realise that anyone can act entitled and it's not acceptable. You are all just assuming that you know the specifics of the situation when SZA provides very little information. She never mentions the context of her request being denied. If it was denied upon the offer of the shoot (which likely means that the publication doesn't employ non-white photographers), that's an issue. If she showed up on the day and demanded that the photographer be replaced, that's downright unacceptable. So many celebrities really believe they can make last minute demands and it holds an entire set to ransom, wasting time and money. And I bet some of them don't even think twice. Do any of you consider how this white photographer feels now that she's posted this? And if she did accept the shoot, we'll find out who it was soon enough when it gets released and we know it wasn't the ones she tweeted underneath, so it's an easy process of elimination. Have you ever been made to feel that your hard work isn't good enough? Now imagine that you were immediately disapproved of by your client because of the colour of your skin, implying that you wouldn't know how to do a good job or understand any of their needs? Obviously, a photographer will know more about photography than a singer does. It insults someone's work when you cast them aside like that and for such a reason. It's very telling that very few are even considering the photographer's feelings. Just put yourself in their shoes for just a minute.

Look, I'm a woman and a feminist and I would never feel comfortable asking for a female photographer. I don't feel comfortable asking for anything, really. I always think it's not my place or jurisdiction. I trust that a magazine knows what its doing and knows more about the shooting process than me. It's not my place to say who they should hire or provide. Unless the photographer's being a creep, I have no issue with them being a man. I can realise that men that occupy a huge part of the industry but at the same time believe that it's not their fault for wanting to pursue this career, that they need money just like everyone else and will hopefully produce good photos. Demanding that they be changed without even knowing what their output is suggests that I believe a woman would do a better job because she's a woman. Pretty much the only element in life where I'd request a woman would be for a doctor when dealing with a female issue. I'm amazed that anyone else feels comfortable with thinking they've got the right to say who deserves to work with them based on superficial factors.

At the end of the day, SZA can provide her own photographer if it's this important to her, she has the funds. But we should just let individual publications do their thing without interjecting. It's up to them how they want to run their business and be thankful for the amazing opportunity of exposure. It honestly wouldn't even enter my mind that I could request the specifics of what kind of photographer I could have upon given the invitation of a photoshoot. But celebrities tend to think the whole world should bend to their whims and demands come naturally to them.

I'm amazed anyone doesn't think it sounds demanding. As I was saying above, it wouldn't even occur to me that I should request what kind of photographer I'd get. I'd just be grateful to get this amazing opportunity and I just tend to accept the circumstances I get offered in life. Why can't celebrities do that? I find this no different to unneccesary champagne and red M&M's (which I'd also have difficulty asking for). I'm a very humble person who doesn't like asking for anything, so I find those who do more than a bit pushy. And it's not because she's a woman, it's not because she's a black woman, it's not because she's rich and famous. I don't care who someone is - you respect the jobs of others and trust that they know what they're doing. It's not my business to demand a magazine changes according to what I want. I somehow don't think we'd be having this same discussion if the request was not based around race. A racially based request shouldn't come above and beyond all other requests.

We're not creating hypotheticals. SZA isn't providing the crucial piece of information about whether she asked for this upon the opportunity being presented to her or asking for a replacement on the actual day, when everyone's been hired and ready to go. Because it makes a huge difference depending on which one it is. Hence, we can only make assumptions based on what was provided. You are assuming in support of her as much as the rest are assuming against her. I really don't see why it's so racist to believe that it's wrong to make a magazine feel bad for not doing things exactly how you would like. I'd be just as disapproving if it was a white celebrity making any other sort of demand.

I fully agree with you. I can’t imagine caring about the skin color of a photographer let alone be picky about people’s appearance when it comes to professional things like this. And I’d certainly not consider myself progressive for it.

[GagaSine 7,464]

4 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Obviously you were responding to the user who quoted me but the joke was aimed at me and is used as a frequent joke when people want to say my name without saying it. Clearly, you substituted strawberry for blueberry and blond for brunette as an opposite joke and assumed I was too stupid to notice and naive enough to accept your explanation shown here. I never claimed to be a victim in every situation but when people spread lies about me, then I am the victim. You, alongside others, have incorrectly labelled me racist before and it deeply affects me. If you don't like me, that's fine but don't spread falsehoods about me. For all that you claim you find so many people rude I find the way you treat me to be very rude. If you're going to dislike me that much, just truly ignore my comments and don't reply to them. Keep to your word about ignoring me instead of jeering from the sidelines.

Then stop quoting me! Again I never spoke directly to you in this thread until you quoted me, I only saw your comments bc other people were quoting them (it would be nice if the ignore feature could be implemented into quotes too).

And if you don't want to be called racist then do some self analysis and stop saying things that are racially tone deaf. Claiming you are being misrepresented is a form of playing the victim. You constantly center yourself and your personal feelings instead of trying to actually understand what people are saying. Hence why I ignored you. Bye.