Vogue’s Hairspray tribute slammed for bizarre decision to feature no plus-sized people

A homage to queer classic musical Hairspray has been criticised for not featuring any plus-size stars.

The three-minute Vogue commercial showcased designer Marc Jacobs, model Gigi Hadid and actors Cole Escola and Laverne Cox strutting their stuff to You Can’t Stop the Beat from the 2007 film adaptation of the 1988 classic musical by acclaimed gay filmmaker John Waters.

But several fans chose to stop the beat in its tracks after taking issue with the lack of larger stars in a tribute to a musical primarily about body positivity and rising above the standards of society.

Vogue cover star Hadid takes the role of Tracey Turnblad in the clip, but ironically is dressed more like film antagonist Amber von Tussle, who is pretty, thin, shallow and snobby.

Users in the comment section were quick to point out the problem.

“An alternate universe where Amber von Tussle won Miss Hairspray,” one user wrote, while another, who said the film was among their favourite musicals, hated to see it “size-corrected”.

Someone else was more sarcastic, writing: “Wow, a tribute to a plus-sized character with no plus-sized representation. Ground-breaking.”

The homage was especially puzzling given that equality and representation are core components of the cult classic musical, in which Tracey, a self-described “pleasantly plump” teen fights to star in a TV dance show.

The frustration of fans was echoed on Bluesky, where one user wrote that the tribute was “100 per cent a recession indicator”.

Columnist Rebecca Shaw, writing in The Guardian, said the clip “went a step [farther] in the wrong direction” for body positivity.

“All kinds of people hate fatness. I have been prepared for that, I expect it,” she said. “What I was less prepared for was a world where normal, nice, thoughtful, politically aware, outspoken people seem to care about inclusivity in all areas – except this one.”

Why did John Waters create Hairspray?

Director and writer John Waters was inspired to create the 1988 musical movie Hairspray by his own history of seeking day-time television fame.

In the early 60s, Waters was a regular fan of the American bandstand programme The Buddy Deane Show which aired in Baltimore, which is where Hairspray is set.

Waters was so enamoured by the show that he was desperate to star in it, and eventually won a spot. However, his appearance was quickly axed after he performed an explicit dance on air. Despite the setback, he still loved the show and even wrote about it in Baltimore Magazine.

His love affair with after-school pop music programmes continued and most famously led to Tracey fighting to perform on The Corny Collins Show despite the producer’s idea that plus-size women didn’t belong on screen.

Hairspray‘s themes of diversity and body positivity are backed up by a cast of plus-sized characters, including Edna Turnblad, played by Waters’ favourite Harris Glenn Milstead, better-known as Divine.

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