Margot Robbie was once the subject of a sexist Vanity Fair profile that was widely criticized in 2016. At the time, the 26-year-old Australian actress spoke out about the article, saying she was surprised with the support she garnered after the piece came out since she was used to reading offensive and sexist descriptions in the media.
In 2016, The “Suicide Squad” star scored a profile in the August issue of the Vanity Fair magazine. The profile written by contributor Rich Cohen objectified Margot Robbie and even patronized her native country, Australia.
Part of the profile read, “She is 26 and beautiful, not in that otherworldly, catwalk way but in a minor knock-around key, a blue mood, a slow dance.”
The profile continued, “She is tall but only with the help of certain shoes. She can be sexy and composed even while naked but only in character.”
Cohen then went on to describe Australia as “America 50 years ago, sunny and slow, a throwback, which is why you go there for throwback people. They still live and die with the plot turns of soap operas in Melbourne and Perth, still dwell in a single mass market in Adelaide and Sydney.”
Shortly after the piece was published, Margot Robbie said in an interview with the Australian TV show The Project,” That was a really odd interview.”
Robbie recalled feeling “weird” by the tone of the interview, adding, “Like, I don’t know what he’s trying to get at.'”
Robbie noted she didn’t expect the article to trigger a backlash as “I’ve read far more offensive, far more sexist, insulting, derogatory, disgusting things on a daily basis.” Robbie added. “I don’t know. Maybe, I’m like, desensitized to it now.”
Writer Richard Cohen later defended the interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, saying, “I was mostly joking,” and it was supposed to be “funny.” The “joke” obviously didn’t land, as Cohen was seemingly the only one laughing.
