Kristen Stewart responds to backlash over her Rolling Stone cover shoot

20 February 2024, 17:14

Kristen Stewart knocked it out of the park with new fiancé

By Katie Louise Smith

"It’s crazy that there aren’t more pictures like that. I loved the opportunity."

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Kristen Stewart has responded and defended her Rolling Stone cover shoot after it was criticised by right-wing commentators.

In case you missed it, Kristen recently covered the iconic magazine where she posed in an open vest and a white jockstrap, with her hand stuck down the front. Explaining the inspiration behind the cover shoot, Kristen said that it happened because she wanted to do "the gayest f*cking thing you’ve ever seen in your life."

"If I could grow a little mustache, if I could grow a fucking happy trail and unbutton my pants, I would," she continued. "Guys — I’m sorry — but their f*cking pubes are shoved in my face constantly, and I’m like, ‘Ummmm, bring it in.’”

The entire shoot has been lauded by fans and the LGBTQ+ community. People are living for it, loving it and saving the images as their phone background. But not the right-wing agitators on social media, apparently...

Kristen Stewart responds to backlash over her Rolling Stone cover shoot. Picture: Anna Pocaro/IndieWire via Getty Images, ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

Kristen wanted her Rolling Stone cover image to send a clear message: "hyper-sexualized, left of andro, and flipping the gender script."

She, along with Rolling Stone were later accused of "forcing" queer and non-binary ideology onto people with the shoot. The replies to Rolling Stones' post on X/Twitter are full of conservative users with blue checkmarks responding negatively to the image.

The publication themselves also directly addressed the right-wing backlash in an article titled, 'Right-Wingers Are Terrified of Our Gay Kristen Stewart Cover'.

Citing Donald Trump's bizarre comments about Kristen and Robert Pattinson's relationship, the publication explains that the actress has since occupied a "curious space in the conservative imagination." They have interpreted the images as "evidence" that young people are being "groomed" into "adopting sexual and gender identities that fall outside a heteronormative standard."

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Kristen took the time to respond and address the conversation surrounding the shoot during a press conference for her new film Love Lies Bleeding at the Berlin Film Festival. She stands by the images, as she should!

"The existence of a female body thrusting any type of sexuality at you that’s not designed for, or desired by, exclusively cis straight males is something people are not super comfy with, and so I’m really happy with it. I had a good time," she said, joking about the use of "uncensored" in the headline, despite the image being censored.

"It’s definitely okay to take different pictures and mix them up in a way that people aren’t used to and go, 'That’s okay, too'," she added. "In fact, it’s pervasive and it’s everywhere and it’s being denied, and it’s crazy that there aren’t more pictures like that. It wasn't that big of a deal. So I loved the opportunity."