Vogue criticized for lack of plus-size models in ‘Hairspray’-inspired video starring Gigi Hadid

Vogue’s recent homage to “Hairspray” owes a lot of the hallmarks of the beloved musical: a catchy song, big hairdos and 1960s fashion.

But many viewers noticed one prominent part of the Broadway show and movie was omitted: plus-size people.

The video, which was released online across Vogue’s social media pages and on its website Tuesday, is tied to its April cover story on Gigi Hadid, who is known for modeling for brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Calvin Klein. 

Equality and representation are two core themes of “Hairspray,” which follows Tracy Turnblad, a self-described “pleasantly plump” teen in Baltimore in the 1960s, as she chases her dream of performing on a TV dance show while also aiming to integrate it. 

Vogue’s feature is titled “Gigi Hadid Can’t Stop the Beat,” a play on one of the popular numbers from “Hairspray,” titled “You Can’t Stop the Beat.” In the video, Hadid lip-syncs to the song before she is joined by actor Laverne Cox, comedian Cole Escola, designer Marc Jacobs and model-actor-dancer Alton Mason. The video, a full 3-minute, 17-second version of which is posted on YouTube, mirrors the ’60s aesthetic from the movie and the Broadway show.

Some people online expressed frustration that most people in the video are thin, which they said defeats the musical’s entire message of acceptance. Others shared concerns that Vogue’s cover shoot is the latest indicator that society has moved away from body positivity, a movement centered on self-acceptance regardless of body type.

“Sorry but anyone who knows Hairspray knows this is an INSANE campaign to not even [have] one plus size person in this? What is going on…” Remi Bader, an influencer known for promoting body positivity to her millions of social media followers, wrote Thursday on her Instagram story. 

“It’s wild because I’m literally a plus size model who PLAYED TRACY TURNBLAD THREE TIMES and somehow I’m seeing zero plus size representation, do I need to fill you in on the plot of hairspray?!” Bailey Scaman, a model, wrote in a comment on Vogue’s Instagram post. 

Representatives for Vogue, Hadid, Cox, Escola, Jacobs and Mason did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The April shoot comes just months after Vogue Business published its 2025 spring/summer size inclusivity report. It wrote that “progress has stalled and we are facing a worrying return to using extremely thin models, amid the Ozempic boom,” referring to using the popular drug semaglutide for weight loss.

It said it analyzed “every runway show and presentation featured on Vogue Runway from the official New York, London, Milan and Paris schedules to calculate the proportion of total looks that are straight, mid and plus-size” and found that less than 1% of the more than 8,700 runway models were plus size. 

In the past year, many influencers who are known for championing body positivity have sounded the alarm over what they say has been a return to “thinness” as the norm. 

Some people responding to the Vogue video echoed similar concerns.

“If I learned anything from Vogue’s hairspray cover it’s that thinness is definitely back in and we’ve regressed so much that even tokenistic body diversity is gone,” a TikTok user wrote in the text of a video that had been viewed over 1.5 million times as of Thursday.  “How did a whole crew of people okay that?”

In her Vogue interview, Hadid said that she “grew up doing musical theater” and that she played Amber Von Tussle, Tracy’s bully/nemesis, in a performance of the musical when she was 9.

“I love all things musical theater,” she said.

Director Bardia Zeinali, who directed Hadid on a 2018 “Beetlejuice”-themed shoot, was the Vogue video shoot director. 

In her Instagram caption sharing the Vogue video, Hadid wrote that the two “have been dreaming (yapping) of our own take on ‘Hairspray’ for years, and this @voguemagazine day was all the things that make our job special— all the things little Gigi dreamt it could be! How much more fun could we have showing you this season’s dresses of 2025 than takin you back to the 60’s?!”

She ended the post appearing to allude to any online haters, writing: “To the neg’s of the world…. Just a reminder that YOU CAN’T STOP THE BEAT ;).” The post was published to her page before any reaction online had circulated.

Zeinali did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an Instagram post sharing the Vogue video, she called the experience “Hands down, the most exciting and satisfying project I’ve worked on, with the most fulfilling creative process ever.”

“Never experienced this level of passion and commitment from an entire cast and crew of people who I feel so fortunate and grateful to work alongside,” she wrote, praising Hadid as “THAT girl” and a “force!”