Rolling Stone magazine made headlines yesterday after the cover of the new issue, on newsstands this Friday, was released. It featured Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a sepia picture that caused controversy among the nation.
Thousands of people, including celebrities like One Direction and Kelly Osbourne, voiced their concerns and suggested that no one supported the decision to give a "monster" the celebrity treatment implied by being on the cover of such important magazine.
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Tsarnaev's picture prompted immediate outrage on Twitter, with a flood of remarks such as: "Rolling stone (expletive) you," "I'll be canceling my subscription. Big difference between edgy, and crossing line of decency," and "Wow. Rolling Stone should be ashamed of themselves for this. Absolutely terrible cover."
Even a "Boycott Rolling Stone" Facebook page was created and had more than 57,000 "likes" less than 24 hours after it was created.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, clearly upset, sent the following statement in a letter to Wenner Media head Jann Wenner, which publishes Rolling Stone:
"Your August 3 cover rewards a terrorist with celebrity treatment. It is ill-conceived, at best, and re-affirms a terrible message that destruction gains fame for killers and their 'causes.' There may be valuable journalism behind your sensational treatment, though we can't know because almost all you released is the cover."
"To respond to you in anger is to feed into your obvious marketing strategy. So, I write to you instead to put the focus where you could have: on the brave and strong survivors and on the thousands of people - their family and friends, volunteers, first responders, doctors, nurses and donors - who have come to their side. Among those we lost, those who survived, and those who help carry them forward, there are artists and musicians and dancers and writers. They have dreams and plans. They struggle and strive. The survivors of the Boston attacks deserve Rolling Stone cover stories, though I no longer feel that Rolling Stone deserves them."
In addition, many businesses released statements that they are not going to support this Rolling Stone issue and will not sell them in their establishments. CVS was one of them.
"CVS/pharmacy has decided not to sell the current issue of Rolling Stone featuring a cover photo of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect," CVS wrote on its Facebook page. "As a company with deep roots in New England and a strong presence in Boston, we believe this is the right decision out of respect for the victims of the attack and their loved ones."
Tedeschi Food Shops also released a similar statement on their social media platforms: "Tedeschi Food Shops supports the need to share the news with everyone, but cannot support actions that serve to glorify the evil actions of anyone. With that being said, we will not be carrying this issue of Rolling Stone. Music and terrorism don't mix!"
This issue of Rolling Stone is promising a "riveting and heartbreaking account of how a charming kid with a bright future became a monster" in contributing editor Janet Reitman's article. Tsarnaev, with his brother, is accused in the bombings that killed three people at the Boston Marathon finish line April 15, and the April 18 murder of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, plus wounding at least 264 people.
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