The famed fashion journalist dubs his former BFF a ‘colonial broad’ and doubts that the Vogue editor-in-chief will ‘let anything get in the way of her white privilege.’

AceShowbiz -Andre Leon Talley isn’t buying Anna Wintour’s apology to her staff. One day after her email to Vogue staffers surfaced in which she owned up to race-related “mistakes” and the lack of diversity within the company, her former BFF has called her out for being part of “an environment of colonialism.”

Appearing on Sandra Bernhard‘s SiriusXM’s show “Sandyland”, the former editor-at-large of Vogue told the actress/comedian that Anna’s statement was prompted by her competition with Samira Nasr, who was recently named the first black editor-in-chief of Vogue’s competitor, Harper’s Bazaar. “This has impacted [Anna], clearly that statement comes because this girl [Samira] is going to run competition rings around her, [Anna’s] power base has been somewhat affected by the competition of this young African American presence who is going to be historically the first black female editor of a great, great magazine,” he said.

Andre claimed that Anna’s apology “came out of the space of white privilege” and doubted that she will ever distance herself from this privilege. “I wanna say one thing, Dame Anna Wintour is a colonial broad, she’s a colonial dame. She comes from British, she’s part of an environment of colonialism,” he added. “I do not think she will ever let anything get in the way of her white privilege.”

The 71-year-old fashion journalist went on comparing the Vogue editor-in-chief’s apology to a statement from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who admitted that the league was “wrong for not listening to NFL players,” but failed to mention who these players were. “[Roger] did not name Colin Kaepernick by name,” Andre pointed out.

“And as Reverend Al Sharpton said in his eulogy to Mr. Floyd, don’t apologize, give him back his job… No apology necessary. Give people back their jobs and name them. If you’re going to make a statement, name what your mistakes were,” he added. “Own up to it, dear. All I’m asking for his human decency and kindness.”

In the internal memo, Anna admitted, “I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes.”

She promised that “we will do better,” assuring the staffers, “please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward. I am listening and would like to hear your feedback and your advice if you would like to share either.”

And while Andre claimed that Anna’s statement was prompted by the election of Samira Nasr as Harper Bazaar’s editor-in-chief, Page Six reported that Anna’s note was emailed to the company’s staff before Harper’s Bazaar’s historic announcement and before Conde Nast, the media company under which Vogue is branded, was accused of discrimination and pay discrepancies by several employees.

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