Bouncy's Too Black for Vanity Fair?

So Vanity Fair, a magazine that hasn't allowed a sista to grace its cover since Harriet Tubman, decided Beyonce (aka Bouncy) was worthy enough to grace the cover of its "2005 Hip Hop Music issue." But word on the street is that Bouncy, who is already a light-skinned African American, was too dark for the magazine's editors, so they did what any logical editorial team would do--they digitally lightened her photos. Duh! The magazine claims they did no such thing. According to www.radaronline.com there may be a "white wash" going on at Vanity Fair. Check out Radar's article below...

Beyoncé Knowles, who appears on the cover of this month’s Vanity Fair, has publishing insiders whispering about the cover girl’s strangely pale visage ever since the November issue hit newsstands. Now, a high-level source at Vanity Fair is alleging that the mag digitally altered Beyoncé’s image to appear several shades lighter. Vanity Fair, which has drawn some of the sharpest criticism, has not featured a solo black person on its cover since the late nineties, when it showcased Michael Jordan, Will Smith, and a clown-faced Chris Rock.

A pronounced dip in newsstand sales earlier this year has Carter feeling especially skittish. Convinced that a series of gloomy covers has contributed to the slump, says our source, the wing-haired editor ordered his art department to lighten up its act. Unfortunately, staffers got so carried away they ended up lightening Beyoncé as well. But the brightening of Beyoncé caused other problems: According to our source, the singer’s cover photo clashed with inside photos, which pictured her with longtime boyfriend Jay-Z.

Not suprisingly, VF is outraged by the claim that it manipulated Beyoncé’s image. Asked about the charge, the magazine’s spokeswoman, Beth Kseniak, insisted that the singer’s portraits were “absolutely not” manipulated and said that any change in her skin tone was a result of lighting and makeup.

UPDATE: Reached for comment this morning, Yvette Noel-Schure, Beyoncé’s personal publicist who set up the photo shoot, said that while she had no knowledge of procedures at Vanity Fair and could not speak for the magazine, she didn’t think VF had lightened her client’s skin tone. “There are very fair-skinned black people in this world, and Beyoncé is one of them,” she said.