As fashion's most high-profile publication, Vogue US definitely has a lot of pulling power when it comes to celebrities.
Every celeb who has graced the magazine's coveted cover has given some form of interview, most of them in-depth profiles with exclusive quotes. And while Beyoncé did indeed sit down with a reporter for her previous cover appearances in 2009 and 2013, she mysteriously refused to do so this time.
The singer appears on Vogue's September 2015 cover, which at 832 pages is Condé Nast's biggest and most anticipated issue of the year. Rather than give in to the "you give us quotes, we give you coverage" trade, Beyoncé instead declined to answer even one question for the magazine, opting instead to only pose for photos.
In fact a member of the singer's team recently revealed that Beyoncé had not answered a direct question to a journalist in more than a year, choosing to only do interviews via email.
While she may not have spoken, the cover itself of course spectacular. Shot by Mario Testino and featuring Bey posing in a corset-style blush pink Marc Jacobs dress retailing at $12,000, it shows off her true superstar quality. In another shot, Beyoncé stands with her back to the camera, looking #flawless in a black lace couture Versace dress:
Vogue features a small essay in place of an interview, and writer Margo Jefferson said she was not even granted contact with Beyoncé's staff. "It was definitely posed to me as … call it a think piece if you want," Margo told the New York Times. "I had no contact with her camp."
So is her radio silence extreme shyness, or just a very smart business move? Margo believes it's the latter. "She has to be studying how effective her interviews have been so far. She may have decided that they do not contribute as dazzlingly to the portrait of Beyoncé as the other stuff. It’s a perfectly reasonable decision," she concedes.
Despite her refusal to interact with the media, Beyoncé is still the most successful singer out there. Last year she topped the Forbes list of the highest-earning female in music, having earned a whopping $115 million, almost double her earnings from the year before and $51m more than her closest rival, Taylor Swift.
On social media, she is rivalled only by Kim Kardashian in terms of Instagram followers (the pair both currently have 43.7m each).
Perhaps Beyoncé has reached a point where she simply doesn't have to pander to the media anymore? Somehow we can't imagine Kim Kardashian ever getting to that level…
