Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Lauren Chan becomes the first openly lesbian cover star
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is making waves again - this time by putting its first openly lesbian model on the cover.
Lauren Chan, a Canadian model and advocate for size inclusivity, is one of four women featuring on the cover of this year's issue, joining Salma Hayek, gymnast Jordan Chiles, and college athlete Olivia Dunne.
Lauren told People: 'I'm the first out lesbian on the cover - with her own cover - and how much that means to me makes that surprise feel so overwhelming.'
She added: 'That's where I feel like the tears of joy and celebration and relief and community come from.'
Many fans rushed to congratulate her, while others questioned why her sexuality was being discussed at all, posting comments like, 'How is her sex life anybody's business?' and 'It's 2025. Nobody cares'.
Another user wrote, 'She's beautiful. Why can't we just focus on the cover? Why is it all about sexuality? Smh.'
Some critics even accused the magazine of pushing a 'woke' agenda.
One person wrote: 'SI applies "Go woke, go broke". Bye bye.'
Another chimed in: 'I dropped Sports Illustrated years ago… couldn't take their woke nonsense anymore.'
Others took aim at the magazine's inclusive evolution.
Someone said: 'From the moment I saw Sports Illustrated celebrating obesity, all the lefty WOKE magazines were over.'
One user admitted: 'It's a little woke but I'll let it slide this once.'
Sports Illustrated has faced similar criticism in recent years for breaking traditional beauty standards.
Online reaction: The move caused a stir on social media
In 2020, Valentina Sampaio became the first transgender model featured in the issue.
In 2021, Leyna Bloom became the first transgender cover star, followed by pop star Kim Petras landing a cover in 2023.
Lauren herself even fired back at critics.
The body positivity advocate took to social media after someone left a dismissive comment on a photo from her return to the magazine, which shows her posing on a Bermudan beach in an off-white lace two-piece.
She posted a screenshot of the remark, left by the user, who wrote, 'Who are they even doing this for anymore? Women?? This makes zero sense.'
Lauren didn't hold back. In the post, she responded: 'This is exactly why I show up in this space with my full chest.'
She added that the magazine is meant for women - for representation and inspiration - not as 'an objectifying catalogue of fantasy for patriarchal pawns'.
In a second slide, she cheekily added: 'Wait 'til he finds out I'm a lesbian.'
In the caption, Lauren explained the comment 'struck a chord with me' and said she deliberately left it up for everyone to see.
She wrote: 'The inclusion of myself and other folks that represent minorities in SI Swimsuit signifies an evolution in how women are allowed to exist in this society and which women deserve respect.
'This man is insinuating that because I am a size 14, Asian and Middle Eastern, a lesbian, etc., that I am unattractive to him individually and that therefore no man, based on the patriarchal beauty standard, could deem me worthy of being in this publication.'
Lauren went on to explain that the magazine is helping to redefine beauty 'through the female gaze,' and that every woman should feel seen in its pages.
She said: 'It is not an outdated, objectifying catalogue of fantasy for patriarchal pawns. If that makes men feel irrelevant and angry enough to throw a tantrum in my comments... I see no issue publicly and permanently addressing them.'
She signed off by throwing her full support behind the magazine's mission, writing that she believes in it 'with [her] whole heart,' and declaring: 'SI Swimsuit 2025 is for the girls.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Gleeful leftist late night hosts delight in Trump Musk fallout: 'The big, beautiful betrayal'
Gleeful late-night hosts took victory laps around President Donald Trump and Elon Musk Thursday as they delighted in the pair falling out. Across the board, the MAGA-hating panel of hosts rejoiced in the spat. They repeated Musk's claim that Trump is 'named in the Epstein files', mocked SpaceX 's record of exploding rockets and questioned what Trump would now do with his Tesla. The spat made for easy material for the hosts, who are struggling to maintain ratings with a tired format. Among the most delighted was Jimmy Fallon. 'You can tell Trump is really mad at Elon because earlier today he was seen driving a Prius,' the former SNL star noted. 'Trump said he hasn't felt this betrayed since McDonald's started putting apple slices in Happy Meals. 'It's orange vs. white,' he added. 'It's like watching a creamsicle attack itself.' Over on CBS, Stephen Colbert sang a similar tune, also reveling in the rift between whom he smarmily put as 'the world's most famous besties'. It all happened on social media, serving as easy ammo for the hosts. 'So now Donald Trump is a Tesla owner who hates Elon Musk?' Colbert asked during a more than 12-minute monologue devoted to the subject. 'He's never been more relatable.' He then honed in Musk's claim that Trump is 'in the [Jeffrey] Epstein files' - documents involving the late financier and his alleged accomplices spread out across various probes and lawsuits that have been mostly kept classified. 'Trump's going to have to get one of those bumper stickers for his Tesla that says "I bought this before Elon told everyone I was on Epstein's plane,"' Colbert quipped, as hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers offered similar, smug material. 'The real truth is that Musk is mad about the things that affect him, like cutting the electric vehicle tax credit, not using his company Starlink for air traffic control, and that they pulled his friend's nomination for head of NASA,' Kimmel laughed on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! 'What Elon Musk cares about is Elon Musk,' he further noted on his ABC show, before bringing the First Lady into the mix 'Now, between Elon and Melania, Trump now has two foreigners who won't sleep with him. 'I feel bad for Donald Trump,' he then added. 'I mean, first, he lost Jeffrey Epstein, now, Elon. He's running out of friends. 'You know, I knew this day would come, and yet, somehow, it's even better than I imagined,' he kept on. 'It's like coming down the stairs on Christmas morning and finding a second tree.' On Late Night, Seth Meyers showed similar bias, labeling the feud over 'Trump's Big Beautiful bill' a 'stunning turn of events'. The comic then offered some uncharacteristic stern words. 'Things have been bad for Elon, which is what happens to everyone who sells their soul to Trump.' The Daily Show's Michael Kosta, filling in for Jon Stewart, also commented on the quarrel. He sarcastically opened the show with: 'America, tonight we are a nation at war.' 'I thought these two billionaires with the world's biggest egos would work it out amicably.' the Daily Show senior correspondent said sarcastically. 'Washington is a lot like high school and not just because all the politicians are trying to date high-schoolers.' Fallon further fanned the flames with a reference to the recent Blur Origin broadcast live by rival CBS, which featured a crew of pop stars, TV personalities, and Jeff Bezos's fiancée. 'Trump said that the easiest way for the country to save money would be to terminate all of Elon Musk's government contracts,' Fallon set-up. 'Smart, now the future of space exploration rests on Katy Perry.' Colbert, meanwhile, went as far as to mimic Musk's accent, while further fanning the flames surrounding Musk's claims Trump is linked to a convicted pedophile. 'Donald Trump, was a sexual predator that preyed on young women, which is something I've only decided to tell you because he hurt my feelings,' he said, speaking as if he were the Tesla boss. 'I am the hero of the story!' A White House official on Thursday said Trump and Musk were scheduled to speak in person on Friday. The official did not give a time for the call, which could ease the feuding after an extraordinary day of hostilities. Meanwhile, late night, as a format, is on the decline. Numbers show Greg Gutfeld's late night-styled Fox alternative attracting the largest average nightly audience of the field - something unthinkable just a decade ago. Epstein, moreover, died in prison in 2019 after being convicted. He and Trump were once close friends.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Ex-girlfriend of Sean Combs tells court of Las Vegas ‘hotel night'
A recent ex-girlfriend of singer Sean 'Diddy' Combs returned to the witness stand on Friday in his sex trafficking trial. The woman using the pseudonym 'Jane' previously testified that he pressured her into drug-fuelled sex marathons similar to those described by another former girlfriend, R&B singer Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura. Advertisement Jane is among several witnesses at the trial — now at the end of its fourth week — who accuse Combs of violence, including Cassie. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to running his business empire as a racketeering enterprise that enabled and concealed the abuse of women across two decades. If convicted, he faces 15 years in jail to life imprisonment. On Friday, prosecutors questioned Jane about sexual subjects, beginning with a 2023 trip to Las Vegas where Jane said she and Combs had a 'hotel night' with an 'entertainer'. Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey asked if Combs ever used the word 'freak'. Advertisement Jane said he would say 'he wants his freak' and that she understood that to mean 'he wanted me to be wild and sexual'. Her description of 'hotel nights' has closely paralleled Cassie's earlier testimony about numerous 'freak-offs' she had with male sex workers under Combs' direction. Jane said during her first day of testimony on Thursday that she repeatedly told Combs, in person and in writing, that she did not want to have sex with other men. But Combs, who paid her rent and controlled other parts of her life, kept pressuring her and she felt 'obligated' to take part in the 'hotel nights', she said. Advertisement
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
The Latest: Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex-girlfriend sobs while describing abuse during testimony
Sean 'Diddy' Combs ' recent ex-girlfriend described enduring drug-fueled sex marathons until the hip-hop titan's arrest in September as the key witness began testimony Thursday. The woman resumed her testimony Friday under the pseudonym ' Jane.' The Latest: Jane texted Combs that she wanted to stop having 'hotel nights' Jane tried to put an end to so-called 'hotel nights,' texting Combs in 2023 that she longed to return to the early days of their relationship, before the drug-fueled encounters started to dominate their time together. Jane told Combs that she felt obligated to perform for him and that she regretted ever getting involved in the encounters, writing: 'ever since I opened Pandora's box, I haven't been able to close it.' 'I don't want to keep feeling like that,' she wrote, telling Combs that she wanted them to 'talk like adults and figure out where we're going from here.' Combs responded: 'Girl, stop.' Jane sometimes leaned into Combs' fantasies even though she 'didn't like them' Jane acknowledged sending sexually explicit text messages to Combs between their hotel encounters, telling jurors she wanted to convey her love and interest in having sex with him — not strangers. At times, she said, she did lean into his fantasies, sending graphic messages describing what she said she wanted to do with sex workers while Combs watched. On the witness stand Friday, she said she sent those messages because she wanted to make him happy. In reality, she said, she wanted the encounters to stop. 'I didn't like them,' she said. 'I was realizing this was becoming the dynamic of what we were.' Jane says Diddy stopped condom use during 'hotel nights' Jane testified that Combs intervened to stop a man she identified as Don from using a condom, even after she requested it. The moment was captured in audio played for the jury. She said it happened during their first 'hotel night,' which Combs had arranged, and that he blocked condom use again in a later encounter. Jane testified that Combs 'guilt tripped me out of it. It wasn't something he wanted to see.' Prosecutors play audio of 'hotel night' encounter. Later, Jane breaks down sobbing Prosecutors played an audio tape in which Jane asked a man to wear a condom who was about to have sex with her. It was the first time jurors in the trial, now in its fourth week, heard any recording from what Jane has called 'hotel nights' and what Cassie called 'freak-offs.' During hotel nights, a male sex worker would have sex with Jane while Combs watched, according to testimony. Later in the testimony Friday morning, Jane broke into sobs as she described crying on two occasions during 'hotel nights' with Combs. In tears, Jane says Diddy ignored her resistance to group sex Jane wept as she told jurors how Combs ignored her 'subtle cues' that she wanted to stop engaging in sex acts during their drug-fueled 'hotel nights.' She said she'd tell him she was tired or hungry or make gestures and facial expressions indicating that she didn't want to continue. Combs, she said, would tell her to keep going and 'finish strong.' Asked by a prosecutor why she didn't tell him directly that she wanted to stop, Jane said, 'I just, I don't know,' as she cried loudly. Jane's second day of testimony starts with sexual topics Comey, the prosecutor, questioned Jane about sexual subjects right from the start on Friday, beginning with a trip Jane said she took with Combs to Las Vegas in 2023 when they had a 'hotel night' with an 'entertainer.' The prosecutor asked Jane if Combs ever used the word 'freak' with her. Jane said he would say 'he wants his freak.' She said she understood that to mean 'he wanted me to be wild and sexual.' Jane's description of 'hotel nights' has closely paralleled Cassie's earlier testimony about 'freak-offs' she had with male sex workers, under Combs' direction. Jane returns to the courtroom Jane is back to resume her direct examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey. The jury has entered the room. Combs, wearing a dark sweater on Friday, is conversing with his lawyers and writing notes. The judge gave prosecutors a small victory prior to the resumption of testimony when he ruled that statements Jane made that cast a disparaging light on the sexual performances she endured during her three years of dating Combs can be used during her examination. Defense lawyers had argued they should be inadmissible. But the judge said the opening statement by the defense opened the way for admission of the exhibits because the defense asserted that Jane was a willing participant and that sexual activities were all consensual. Judge meets with attorneys before jury arrives As he has throughout the trial, Judge Arun Subramanian is meeting with prosecutors and defense lawyers in the courtroom on Friday before the jury is brought in so disputes about evidence can be settled. The judge also discussed efforts to improve the ability of Combs to communicate with his lawyers from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he has been held since his September arrest.
