398 “More Demi Moore” (Vanity Fair, August 1991)
With Demi in the news lately due to her new autobiography, I was reminded of when she posed pregnant (with her daughter, Scout) and nude on the cover of Vanity Fair in August of 1991. (starts on page 574 here) I was eight, but I remember people poopin’ their pants over this. There’s even a Wikipedia page just about the cover.
Issues were sold on newsstands wrapped (see above). Some stores refused to carry the issue, like Winn-Dixie in North Carolina: "We run a family store. We're not in the business of being controversial." 2
I forgot that Annie Lebowitz took the photos of Demi. Originally, the photo was supposed to just be for Demi and the family, but editor Tina Brown loved it so much, and that “weomen needed it”, she asked Demi if it could be the cover photo. 4
This is how the page that introduces the interview looks on vanityfair.com:
I have the library bound edition that is on archive.org. Either a stuffy librarian broke the principle of banned books week and tore the bra photo out, or a patron did. oo a mystery. Sweet plaid suit though. Someone make me that in a size 3x.
The giant article about Demi and her then husband, Bruce Willis is very critical at times:
Exactly where Demi Moore stands in Hollywood is a matter of some debate. There is a marked division between those who think she has reached the acting and box-office heights of Julia Roberts, Geena Davis, Jodie Foster, Meg Ryan, and Michelle Pfeiffer, and those who think she has had more good fortune than talent. “She was damned lucky to get into Ghost,” says one top producer. “It wasn’t like she was Geena Davis, someone who’s put in some wonderful performances. Demi hasn’t done that—she was lucky and married well. And the success of Ghost and the fact that she’s Mrs. Bruce Willis all went to her head at the same moment, swelling it unmercifully.”Others criticize what they call “the entourage factor.” On the set of The Butcher’s Wife Moore was catered to by an assistant, a dialogue coach, a masseuse, a psychic consultant, Rumer’s nanny, and a bodyguard (while shooting in New York)—in addition to the standard-issue hairdresser, makeup person, and stand-in. She arrived for each morning’s shoot in a limo and insisted on flying between locations by private plane. 3
Two months later, in the October 1991 issue, some people who had pooped themselves wrote to Vanity Fair (page 320):
(illustration by Tim Sheaffer)
The first part was praise:
But then here comes the poopy pants:
I almost forgot about the parodies! Annie even sued Paramount Pictures due to the Naked Gun 33 1/2 poster parody. The suit was dismissed. 1
Spy magazine also did a parody with Bruce for their September 1991 issue. Even in 2011, the magazine cover was still being referenced when New York ran an article about mothers over 50 back in 2011.
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1.Richardson, Lynda, “A Parody of a Pregnant Actress Stands Up in Court,” New York Times, December 20, 1996. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/20/nyregion/a-parody-of-a-pregnant-actress-stands-up-in-court.html
2. Stein, Gary, “NAKED AND PREGNANT NOT A 'FAMILY' THING,” Sun Sentinel, July 17, 1991. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1991-07-17-9101260474-story.html
3. Collins, Nancy, “Demi’s Big Moment,” Vanity Fair, August, 1991. http://archive.is/gfHeL
4. Brown, Tina, The Vanity Fair Diaries (New York: Henry Holt, 2017), 399-400.
