'I love my Elle cover': Mindy Kaling answers critics of black-and-white head-shot - and says if you want to see more of her body, she'll be nude in her show tonight!

By Tamara Abraham

PUBLISHED: 15:19 EST, 7 January 2014 | UPDATED: 15:57 EST, 7 January 2014

Mindy Kaling has revealed that she loves her new Elle cover, after critics found fault with the fact that it is close-cropped and in black-and-white.

She wrote on Twitter this afternoon: 'I love my @ELLEmagazine cover. It made me feel glamorous & cool. And if anyone wants to see more of my body, go on thirteen dates with me. [sic]'

In a second post, she added: '(It's actually, coincidentally, true. Thank heavens my writers constantly script nudity. So: super funny, totally nude Chris/Mindy tonight!)'

Up close and personal: ELLE celebrates four small screen stars with individual covers, but Mindy Kaling's lone headshot could prove controversial

Up close and personal: ELLE celebrates four small screen stars with individual covers, but Mindy Kaling's lone headshot could prove controversial

The glossy fashion title, which has released four different covers for its Women in TV issue, faced a backlash yesterday because Miss Kaling is only celebrated with a head shot, while Amy Poehler, Zooey Deschanel and Allison Williams are shown in color and nearly full-length.

Fashionista observed that 'at a a self-proclaimed size 8, [Ms Kaling] is hardly "plus size" — [but] gets a close-cropped image.'

 

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Many fans also took to Twitter to voice their opinions. Danielle Odiamar tweeted: '*sigh* @mindykaling's gorgeous skin and curves deserve better.'

And Sarah Lasky Elison wrote: 'I love ELLE magazine and Mindy Kaling but am sad to see her cover is in B&W. She's a beautiful woman of color- why dull that? [sic]'


In a statement announcing the covers, Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers said: ‘There’s no denying that funny ladies are having a major moment, so devoting our Women in TV issue to the women making comedy was a must.’

She added that 'the covers we shot with Zooey Deschanel, Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler and Allison Williams, are all distinctive, just like each of their personalities - both on screen and off.'

Large ambitions: Allison Williams said: 'I want to play a villain. I want to play a romantic heroine. I want to play someone who's on heroin. There's nothing I don't want to do'

Large ambitions: Allison Williams said: 'I want to play a villain. I want to play a romantic heroine. I want to play someone who's on heroin. There's nothing I don't want to do'

Lots of parks, little recreation: Of motherhood, Poehler told the magazine 'now that I have kids, I'm up at 5:30AM no matter what. Sleep at this point is just a concept, something I'm looking forward to investigating in the future
Tough girl: Zooey Deschanel told the magazine that she 'wasn't the world's most popular child, which gave me built-in tenacity. Nothing has ever come easy for me, and I think that's a really good thing'

Funny and fabulous: Amy Poelher (left) and Zooey Deschanel (right) each also landed an Elle cover

This is not the first time Elle has courted controversy lately. The title was attacked in October last year for putting Melissa McCarthy on its cover in an oversized, concealing coat.

It also came under fire for declaring 'North Korea Chic' as a must-have trend.

Each of the Women in TV cover stars were also treated to an in-depth profile. Ms Deschanel speaks to the sexism surrounding her girly image, which has been perceived as a weakness in Hollywood.

She said: 'There has been a shift. I really have stood up for myself on multiple platforms. It's sort of the grown-up version of middle-school nastiness, and I’m just like, come on. If there’s one thing I'd like to graduate from, it's girl-on-girl hate. I don’t believe in it.'

Girls star Miss Williams said of her signature style: 'I wanted to establish a baseline: Here’s what I look like, I have long brown hair, I wear this kind of dress, this is the deal. You can count on it! Look at Jennifer Aniston: she's America’s sweetheart for a reason. You know what she’s going to look like when she shows up to something, and there’s something so comfortable in that.’

Ms Myers added that the group's 'collective confidence, wit and ability to stay grounded in the face of such tremendous success make them exactly the kind of women we love to feature in ELLE.'

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I think people do have a right to question what's going on. I'm really disgusted by the fact that there is a spin put on this to insinuate people want to see Mindy's naked body. No one is asking to see her naked body. Heck, Amy has on a full pantsuit. In fact, none of the other women are showing much skin. Yes, Mindy looks beautiful. No one is saying the cover isn't beautiful. It's just that if you don't see someone that looks like you on the cover of these magazines very often, then it's sends a subconscious message when things are altered when they do get a chance to be on a cover. It's very hard for people who don't experience getting left out/ passed up (etc.) because of their skin color to understand the feelings of someone who has. At first glance, I actually thought she was Rosario Dawson.

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I think people do have a right to question what's going on. I'm really disgusted by the fact that there is a spin put on this to insinuate people want to see Mindy's naked body. No one is asking to see her naked body. Heck, Amy has on a full pantsuit. In fact, none of the other women are showing much skin. Yes, Mindy looks beautiful. No one is saying the cover isn't beautiful. It's just that if you don't see someone that looks like you on the cover of these magazines very often, then it's sends a subconscious message when things are altered when they do get a chance to be on a cover. It's very hard for people who don't experience getting left out/ passed up (etc.) because of their skin color to understand the feelings of someone who has. At first glance, I actually thought she was Rosario Dawson.

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There is no need to be offended on behalf of a person who is not offended themselves. Mindy looks gorgeous!

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Mindy's voice is like nails on a chalkboard -- terrible, and she's not very funny, either

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The problem with Twitter is that it's full of people who have nothing better to do than write what they want to say in the most perfunctory way possible. With all that time on their hands, they always find something to complain about...all the covers are beautiful, it's just complaining for the sake of complaining

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Well her body is fat and dumpy looking, whats the uproar? She's no Allison Williams, that's for sure!!!!!

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I love her.

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I like it. I think it would have been nicer in color, but I find the close ups better than whole body shots actually because they focus on what the person looks like more.

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People criticize magazine houses for how they portray women of color or a particular size but who do you criticize when the facts show that people consistently buy less of those mags??

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I like it too Mindy. Girl power and you look very cute.

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