Beyoncé Knowles stunned on the cover of the highly anticipated September issue of Vogue, but in an odd twist the singer gave no interview to accompany her photo spread in the magazine.
In lieu of an interview, the photos were accompanied by an essay on Beyoncé’s star power written by Pulitzer Prize winner Margo Jefferson. “It was definitely posed to me as…call it a think piece if you want,” Jefferson told The New York Times. “I had no contact with her camp.”
The singer had granted interviews for her previous Vogue covers, in 2009 and 2013. And the magazine typically includes some sort of interview with its cover subjects, even when they are models instead of celebrities.
But the interview refusal is in keeping with a statement one of Beyoncé’s reps also gave to The New York Times in May, stating that she “has not answered any direct questions for more than a year.” She will usually respond in writing, or in a taped segment for television.
While the move may seem strange, some view it as a wise way for the singer to control her brand and message. The singer is said to keep an archive of articles about herself in addition to photos of her in the media.
“She has to be studying how effective her interviews have been so far,” Jefferson said. “She may have decided that they do not contribute as dazzlingly to the portrait of Beyoncé as the other stuff. It’s a perfectly reasonable decision.”
Yale professor Daphne A. Brooks told the Times, “She’s been able to reach this level of stardom in which she’s managed — in a way that I think is unique even among other black entertainers — hyper-visibility and inaccessibility simultaneously.”
A representative for Beyoncé did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.