Danish Magazine Come Under Harsh Criticism For Featuring Image Of Dangerously Thin Teen

A Danish magazine has been forced to apologise for an image deemed ‘unhealthily thin’ in its latest issue. COVER magazine printed a picture of 16-year old model Lululeika Ravn Liep – showcasing the teen’s emaciated frame as part of a fashion shoot. Following the online publication of the shoot, Twitter and Reddit users started a debate over the use of the model’s image. Reddit controversially labelled the comment thread ‘Corpse or model?’ while Twitter users debated the responsibility of allowing an image to be published which could promote dangerous eating behaviours. Image via Huffington Post COVER magazine’s founder Malene Malling publicly apologised on the magazine’s Facebook page, calling it a “sad day” admitting she had overlooked her responsibilities to her readers: “I have not lived up to my responsibility as a publisher, woman and mother and am truly sorry. At COVER we have, in all the years, worked to show an expanded beauty ideal. “[To] show that you can be beautiful in various ages and various sizes. We have always sought to work with healthy girls. Just two months ago we had plus-size model Diana Graham on the front of the COVER, so it is certainly a subject we focus on.” While the #CoverGate hashtag generated debate on using the images on Twitter, there was outrage at the language directed at the 16-year old model, with some users referring to her as a "corpse", "ugly" and "disgusting". Liep’s modelling agency also confirmed that the teen "is in a bad time in her life after losing two members of her family".