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Fake AI stories row, claims of going ‘woke’ & axing entire staff – has famed mag Sports Illustrated reached end of line?
Launched in 1954, the weekly glossy sports mag made a name for itself for using sports to look into wider issues
IT is one of the most iconic magazines in the world — as famous for the models it puts on the cover of its swimsuit edition as for its groundbreaking sports journalism.
But the future of Sports Illustrated is now in doubt as it is set to axe its entire staff just six months shy of the illustrious publication’s 70th anniversary.
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It follows moves by the US magazine to diversify — which don’t appear to have sat well with the more conservative members of America’s society.
In recent years, the publication which made the career of model Kate Upton has featured plus-sized and transgender models, and two years ago its Kim Kardashian cover sparked a huge backlash, with critics branding the supposedly feminist magazine hypocritical.
One reader wrote on Twitter, now X: “Go woke go broke. Sports Illustrated has been trash for the last ten years.”
Launched in 1954, the weekly glossy sports mag, now a monthly, was developed by Henry Luce, the creator of Time magazine.
It made a name for itself for using sports to look into wider issues.
Top sportsmen vied for a coveted cover spot — with basketball superstar Michael Jordan, boxing legend Muhammad Ali and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps among those who succeeded.
Yet it was putting women on the front — albeit in its special Swimsuit Issue from 1964 — that brought the magazine to a wider audience.
Then-editor Andre Laguerre thought it a good way to fill the pages during winter’s slower sporting calendar.
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It became the magazine’s most popular issue, selling a million copies at its peak.
Gaining a place on its cover launched careers and was “the pinnacle of success” according to Aussie supermodel Elle Macpherson.
Sports Illustrated really launched my career and I have a lot to thank them for.
Kate Upton
But in 2015, a raunchy shot of model Hannah Davis pulling her bikini bottoms down was dubbed overly suggestive by critics.
US TV shows ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today were forced to censor the cover so they could show it on screen.
Hannah, now 33, defended her cover, saying: “I think it’s empowering; I’ve been hearing it’s degrading.”
In 2016, Ashley Graham made history as the first plus-size model on the Swimsuit Issue cover.
But not everyone in the industry was happy a size-16 model had been picked.
In a chat with Naomi Campbell for the British supermodel’s YouTube series in 2020, Ashley revealed: “There was another model who was so upset that I had gotten the cover.
“She said I was very large and that women my size should not be on the cover.”
Another milestone followed in 2021 when model and actress Leyna Bloom became the Swimsuit Issue’s first transgender cover model — followed last year by Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Kim Petras.
Then Kim Kardashian’s 2022 cover — featuring the TV star in a gold bikini — sparked fierce criticism.
One reader wrote: “This is embarrassing.
“After all you’ve been working towards to show regular day-to-day women who are incredible . . . This is what you do? Yikes.”
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Another insisted: “This is so bad. First SI issue I won’t be buying in years.”
Models have seen their careers surge thanks to the prime cover spot.
These include Kate Upton, who made her debut aged 18 in 2011, when she was named Rookie of the Year and earned covers in 2012, 2013 and 2017.
Kate, 31, has revealed she almost got frostbite after posing in a bikini in Antarctica for the 2013 cover splash but insisted it was worth it, adding: “Sports Illustrated really launched my career and I have a lot to thank them for.”
Supermodel Elle — who has been on a record five covers — has said: “For a while I was on the cover of every Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, which was regarded as the pinnacle of success in America.”
Regular cover girl supermodel Tyra Banks has said: “Sports Illustrated is athletes and football 11 months of the year. Then the one issue that they dedicate to models is their most popular.”
This is embarrassing. After all you’ve been working towards to show regular day-to-day women who are incredible . . . This is what you do?
Reader on the Kim K issue
In a shock email on Friday, magazine staffers were told to expect mass lay-offs, with some jobs being cut immediately and the potential for the entire workforce to be gone in three months.
It comes after weeks of turmoil during which the magazine was accused of running articles written by artificial intelligence and its CEO Ross Levinsohn was fired.
News of the lay-offs was announced after Authentic Brands Group, which bought the title in 2019 for £85.5million, terminated the agreement it had with The Arena Group to publish both the print and digital arm of the magazine.
That move — apparently made after Arena missed a payment of more than £2.9 million — comes hot off the heels of the AI scandal.
The Arena Group denied the AI allegations and said the articles were commercial content sourced from a third-party advertising company.
A few weeks later, Arena Group CEO Ross Levinsohn was replaced by interim chief Manoj Bhargava.
Then employees were reportedly sent an email from HR declaring “holiday happy hours” had been axed.
It added: “We will host a party after our company achieves break-even/profitability.”
Mr Bhargava is said to have told employees: “The amount of useless stuff you guys do is staggering.”
While the magazine’s future remains in doubt, Arena Group has said: “Even though the publishing licence has been revoked we will continue to produce Sports Illustrated until this is resolved.
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“We hope to be the company to take SI forward but, if not, we are confident someone will.”
In a joint statement, the Sports Illustrated Union and the NewsGuild of New York said: “We expect The Arena Group to honour all the terms of our union contract and will fight for every one of our colleagues to be treated fairly.”
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In a nutshell
THE first cover star was German model Babette March in 1964.
Christie Brinkley featured in three consecutive years from 1979 – a feat Elle Macpherson would later match.
Beyonce got the coveted spot in 2007, the singing superstar being the first non model or non athlete to do so.
In 2016 – the first Swimwear Issue with multiple covers – Ashley Graham became the first plus-size model on the front.
In 2021 Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka was the first black athlete cover model.
That same year, model and actress Leyna Bloom became the first out transgender cover star and Megan Thee Stallion became the first rapper to feature.
At 81, US businesswoman Martha Stewart was the oldest cover star in 2023.