While fellow models like Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley were photographed with body-revealing outfits, McCarthy is featured wearing a very over-sized winter coat.
Some sites quickly criticized the magazine's approach, like Slate, which called McCarthy the magazine's “token plus-size cover girl,” whose coat is “so huge... she could hide her Mike and Molly co-star Billy Gardel underneath.” “Perhaps photographer Thomas Whiteside only knows how to photograph the usual stick insect models, because he clearly has no clue how to highlight McCarthy’s curves,” charged the site.
Now, ELLE has responded to the controversy in a statement:
“On all of our shoots, our stylists work with the stars to choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different: Melissa loved this look, and is gorgeous on our cover. We are thrilled to honor her as one of our Women in Hollywood this year.”
This isn't the first time critics have fired up over McCarthy's weight. Some speculate that McCarthy's face was digitally enhanced to look slimmer for a U.K. promotional poster for The Heat. Rex Reed had harsh words about the actress in a pan of Identity Theft in which he called her a "hippo" and "tractor-sized."
In comparison to the other covers in the issue (which you can scroll through below), McCarthy's does seem a bit out of place. But, we'll let you decide.
