Anna Wintour didn’t bother to remove her trademark sunglasses when she informed staffers at a struggling music news publication that they were out of a job, according to a witness.
Wintour, the longtime Vogue editor who was promoted to chief content officer at Condé Nast, kept her big black frames on while informing staffers at Pitchfork that their publication was closing up and being folded into GQ, according to one of the laid off writers.
“One absolutely bizarro detail from this week is that Anna Wintour — seated indoors at a conference table — did not remove her sunglasses while she was telling us that we were about to get canned,” Allison Hussey, a former staff writer at Pitchfork, wrote on her X social media account.
Hussey slammed “the indecency we’ve seen from upper management,” calling it “appalling.”
The Post has sought comment from Condé Nast.
A source close to the company told The Post that Wintour always wears her sunglasses indoors and that she was not trying to avoid eye contact with staffers.
Anna Wintour reportedly declined to remove her sunglasses while informing staffers at a Condé Nast publication that they were being axed. Getty Images
The source also insisted that Wintour did not inform Pitchfork staffers of imminent layoffs at the meeting referenced by Hussey.
Hussey was not immediately available for comment.
one absolutely bizarro detail from this week is that Anna Wintour—seated indoors at a conference table—did not remove her sunglasses while she was telling us that we were about to get canned. the indecency we’ve seen from upper management this week is appalling.
— Allison Hussey (@allisonhussey) January 19, 2024
Wintour circulated a memo to staffers at the company announcing the move to close down Pitchfork.
“This decision was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance, and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company,” Wintour wrote.
Wintour recently told staffers at Pitchfork that they were out of a job. FilmMagic
Condé Nast acquired Pitchfork in 2015, but the magazine fell victim to a shrinking pool of advertising dollars that has hit media companies nationwide.
It’s not unusual for Wintour to wear her sunglasses indoors.
She is frequently seen at fashion shows while sporting her shades.
Wintour told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour during an interview that the sunglasses were “incredibly useful because you avoid people knowing what you’re thinking about.”
“They help me when I’m feeling a bit tired or sleepy,” she told Amanpour.
News: In a note to staff, Condé Nast announces that Pitchfork is being moved under GQ. pic.twitter.com/8NzvtYKFLB
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) January 17, 2024
“And maybe they’ve just become a crutch in part of who I am.”
Wintour told Amanpour in the CNN interview that she underwent eye surgery in 2019, which necessitated wearing sunglasses.
“I’ll be brutally frank: I have been unbelievably ill all week. And, plus, I just had eye surgery, so those are the real reasons I’m wearing them today,” Wintour told Amanpour in April 2019.
In 2009, Wintour told “60 Minutes” that sunglasses were “seriously useful” since she “can sit in a show and if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice.”
“At this point, they have become, really, armor,” she told the CBS news magazine.
Wintour, the British-born fashion icon, has headed Vogue for more than three decades.
Her US-based journalism career began in 1975, when she moved to New York City to become a junior editor at Harper’s Bazaar.
Pitchfork, a music critic magazine that was founded in 1996, was folded into GQ. Facebook/Pitchfork
She became Vogue’s first creative director in 1983.
During the course of her career, she earned the moniker “Nuclear Wintour” for being a difficult boss.
Max Tani, media reporter for Semafor, was the first to reveal the news of Pitchfork’s demise.
Pitchfork, a music news publication which was named after a tattoo worn by Al Pacino’s character in the hit movie “Scarface,” established itself as a rival to Rolling Stone magazine since its founding in 1996.
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