Their 'Vogue' Cover Drew Mixed Opinions

We can't remember the last time a magazine cover sparked as much controversy as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's April 2014 Vogue cover, unless of course you count Lena Dunham's February 2014 Vogue cover, Lady Gaga's September 2012 Vogue cover, or Kate Upton's June 2013 Vogue cover. But Kimye's is a uniquely inflammatory case, due to suspicion that editor Anna Wintour was strong-armed into letting Kim and Kanye take the cover of Vogue . Whether you love the spotlight-seeking couple or find their constant coverage tiring, the public has spoken, and the general consensus appears to be... amusement.

Wintour stoked the debate when, in contradiction to her previously implied apathy towards Kanye and Kim, she stated in her editor's letter that she sought to “feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it." Wintour followed by writing that Kim "has created a place for herself in the glare of the world’s spotlight." Diplomatic though the letter may be, Wintour never states that she thinks Kim or Kanye dresses with particular élan, instead insinuating that Kim has forced her way into the public eye, and Kanye has a habit of igniting cultural debates.

After Wintour's tactfully worded letter hit the press, Seth Rogan and James Franco perfectly commenced the public's reaction to Kimye's Vogue cover when they created a photoshopped cover substituting their gorgeous mugs for Kim and Kanye's. The droll parody echoed Hollywood's unspoken law that a celebrity hasn't made it until someone is publicly lampooning them, an arena which Kimye has dubiously dominated. Rogen tweeted a simple "It had to be done" in reference to the image on Friday.

Following in the spirit of lighthearted approval, Salon led the charge in celebrating Kimye's cover, tweeting:

Twitter user Meg Montgoris, a publicist at MoMA, made sure to personally call out Anna Wintour, tweeting,

Cosmopolitan.com editor Amy Odell seconded the sentiment with the succinct tweet:

However, it seems that Sarah Michelle Gellar won the Tweet-off, posting the below to mixed responses:

The debate surrounding the Kimye cover appears to revolve around a question of the high-profile couple actually deserving to headline a publication like Vogue. We can't deny that the couple looks gorgeous in the spread, and their baby is adorable, but their individual claims to fame are slightly more dubious. And what does it all have to do with fashion in the first place?

Regardless of the criticism and celebration by readers of the magazine, Kim herself seemed understandably ecstatic about the cover:

At the very least, Wintour made one reality television star into a very happy camper. And that's always the endgame in the fashion world, right? Glad you're coming with me on this one.