When Allure decided it was a smart move to call out actress Zoe Saldana’s “115 Pounds” on its June cover, an inevitable wave of backlash erupted on all corners of the Internet. But rather than being equally puzzled as to how and why her weight should be linked to the words “grit” and “heartache,” Saldana pledged her allegiance to the glossy. She told E!, “It’s not the first time that people have said, for such a delicate-looking person, you’re very tough. And I think that was the idea that they wanted to get across as a compliment to what they saw in me.”
Saldana then specifically addressed the controversy regarding her published weight, saying, “I don’t understand it sometimes. It almost felt like you were just looking for a reason to just be upset at the fact that I allowed myself to be very free and collaborating with a magazine that is known for collaborating with the subjects.” In other words, Allure didn’t do anything wrong: They had her permission all along.
