Lena Waithe has made history once more as the first openly LGBT women of colour on the cover of Vanity Fair.
Her cover story has garnered the praise of black Hollywood, and the world, all pointing out how deserving, yet overdue, her and other black, gay women's prominence and celebration is.
The interview, with writer Jacqueline Woodson, is honest and moving, and looks intimately at how diversity is achieved behind and on the screen - and how 33 year-old Waithe is an active part of that struggle.
In addition to these important and fascinating narratives of race, however, the Master of None star also discusses her friend and co-star Aziz Ansari.
Ansari was accused of sexual misconduct in a polarising article by Babe. Whilst some saw the article as an essential element of the confusing notion of 'consent' i.e. the grey areas of sexual coercion, others saw it as simply a 'bad date' that need not be included in the #MeToo movement.
Ansari himself released a statement after the accusation, stating that he believed their sexual activity to be consensual, but explained that he had taken her words 'to heart' and continues to support 'the movement that is happening in our culture', calling it 'necessary and long overdue.'
For the first time, Waithe has commented on her friend's accusation, detailing her support of the #MeToo movement and all it entails.
She told Vanity fair:
At the end of the day,what I would hope comes out of this is that we as a society . . . educate ourselves about what consent is—what it looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like. I think there are both men and women who are still trying to figure it out. We need to be more attuned to each other, pay more attention to each other, in every scenario, and really make sure that, whatever it is we're doing with someone else, they're comfortable doing whatever that thing is, and that we're doing it together. That's just human kindness and decency.
Hear hear.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
