After Dutch fashion magazine Jackie ran an article that called Rihanna the N-word in their most recent issue, editor Eva Hoeke made a few meandering statements and apologies before she promptly resigned. But Jackie’s publisher Yves Gijrath has since said the magazine has nothing to apologize for, according to a Dutch news site. Furthermore, Gijrath says that Hoeke’s resignation was accepted not because of her role in the offensive article’s content but because she didn’t stand by it.
Gijrath’s translated statement is as follows:
[T]here is nothing wrong in the magazine. [Hoeke] presented [the offensive article] as a joke, but it most certainly was not a joke. It was an interpretation [of a fashion style] … She should have said: “we did not realize this interpretation is such a touchy subject. We never meant any harm and offer our sincere and upright apologies.” But because of all the fuss, Eva started to wiggle in all directions, and therefore we have come to the conclusion her credibility has been undermined.
It’s a worrying state of affairs for the magazine when the beyond-questionable use of a racial slur isn’t seen as undermining its editor’s credibility — even more so when her attempts at damage control are. Gijrath continued to note that the magazine would not be printing an official retraction or apology (though Rihanna has been invited to respond, it’s likely her tweets say it all already) and “will not be silenced … People are totally off limits when calling both the magazine Jackie and Eva Hoeke racist. Jackie is even produced by an editorial staff that is of mixed origins.”
None of Jackie’s “mixed origin” editorial staff appear to have gone on the record regarding the matter. (Not that the term would be any less inappropriate had “mixed” editorial staffers been involved either.) Arguably offensive (and far, far out of touch) in their own right, Gijrath’s attempts to downplay the issue as merely “a touchy subject” are likely to have quite the opposite effect.
