In a bold move, Lady Gaga takes aim at fashion reviewers and, in particular, The New York Times' venerable fashion critic, Cathy Horyn, in her latest monthly colum for V Magazine, which hit the web today.
Gaga's memo starts as a lambast of what she feels are predictably negative, cynical reviewers and the so-called movement they've forged, which she dubbed "Extreme Critic Fundamentalism." Horyn's name is listed at the top of the column in a faux CC: field, but isn't called out specifically until near the end of Gaga's diatribe:
In the age of the Internet, when collections and performances are so accessible to the public and anyone can post a review on Facebook or Twitter, shouldn’t columnists and reviewers, such as Cathy Horyn, employ a more modern and forward approach to criticism, one that separates them from the average individual at home on their laptop? The public is certainly not stupid, and as Twitter queen, I can testify that the range of artistic and brilliant intellectuals I hear from on a daily basis is staggering and inspiring.
Gaga does hold one fashion journalist up as an example of good editorial: 15-year-old blogger Tavi Gevinson, whose "prodigious and well-written blog is the future of journalism," according to the singer.
Presumably, the column serves as a response to Horyn's June 17 post on her "On the Runway" blog, in which she questioned why Donatella Versace said she was honored by the pop star's choice to wear vintage Versace.
It's certainly not the first time one of Horyn's targets has fired back: The journalist's notorious and, yes, sometimes negative reviews have gotten her banned from Carolina Herrera, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and, reportedly, Vera Wang, to name a few.
Gaga may also be reacting to Horyn's reference in the blog post to her new album release, "Edge of Glory" as a "D.O.A. video." In her V column, Gaga writes: "Why give the elephant in the room a peanut if it has already snapped its trunk at you? That peanut was dead on arrival."
In an interesting twist, Gaga's singling out Horyn seems to actually have the effect of proving the critic's more unique worth (over, say, any individual with a laptop). As for opinions in general, Gaga might want to answer her own question: "Why have we decided that one person’s opinion matters more than anyone else’s?"
