In Vogue, Arianna Huffington Is Accused of Thick Makeup and Selling Out
For the most part, Vogue's Arianna Huffington profile is as puffy and inoffensive as you'd expect: There's some gushing about her warmth and glamour, descriptions of a couple of her outfits. But if you read closely, there's claw, too.
First up is Kenny Lerer, the Obama backer, former AOL executive and Huffington Post co-founder who pulled back from HuffPo in 2007. Lerer is referred to as Huffington's "former partner," having apparently made real the gossip he would leave HuffPo entirely. And he took a swipe at Huffington for recent statements that her liberal site is de-emphasizing politics and had never been left wing to begin with:
"[AOL CEO] Tim [Armstrong] and Arianna are saying it's not progressive, because they don't want to take that position because of advertisers," says her former partner Ken Lerer. "But it is what it is and it has a point of view. Which is why it's successful."
We're pretty sure he just casually accused his ex partner (and former political ally) of trading her ideals for cash. All in good humor, we're sure.
Then there's this, in which Huffington's face gets grazed by Vogue's description of what she wore to an advertising event in midtown New York:
Arianna was dressed in suede knee-high boots, a gray dress, a ruffly collar over a cardigan, the hair unflappable, the makeup thick.
Later, Arianna is around the AOL offices wearing "formfitting Citizens of Humanity black jeans, a short black curvy blazer, a white shirt, and strappy heels," which Vogue can't help but point out make her "slightly teeter-tottery." They're sure to quote the AOL editorial tsarina saying she has no time to date (though we heard something about a British boy toy a couple of months back, no idea if there was anything to it). They also caught her drinking a cappuccino through a green straw and, much to our delight, throwing an approving plug to "Zezebel." Accent challenges are so much more endearing the tirades directed at underlings.
