E's Lilliana Vazquez is speaking up and demanding to be heard.
Earlier this week, the E! personality took to Instagram to voice her disappointment with Cosmopolitan México after the publication placed white, controversial influencer Arielle Charnas on the cover of its September 2020 issue.
For Lilliana, the cover was "problematic" for a number of reasons, which she shared in an exclusive chat with E! News.
"It's the biggest issue of the year from an ad revenue standpoint, but it's also the issue that kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month," Lilliana told E!. "A magazine that is supposed to reflect, and beautifully reflect, the nuance [of] how different we all are within our borders of Mexico and the Latinx community was choosing to give that opportunity to somebody that had no discernible connection to the Latinx community."
As Lilliana continued, she made a call to Arielle, who has blocked her on social media, to answer why she felt that she was "deserving" of being featured on the cover.
"I have a huge issue with Arielle saying yes to the opportunity," Lilliana continued. "This opportunity was presented, and she accepted."
Furthermore, Lilliana felt it was in poor taste to celebrate this influencer amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
As E! readers may recall, at the start of the pandemic, Arielle faced criticism after she used personal connections to acquire a COVID-19 test amid a shortage at the time.
The fashion influencer was further criticized after she broke the 14-day quarantine following testing positive for the virus.
"I found Arielle's behavior at the beginning, and throughout most of the pandemic, highly alarming and problematic," the TV personality expressed. "There was just a general lack of accountability for decisions that she made."
While Lilliana said she admires Arielle as a businesswoman, she wanted to hold the Something Navy founder accountable.
"Good for her for building that brand and good for her for having an audience that trusts her," she shared. "But, with that trust and with that power comes responsibility."
In fact, Lilliana's issue isn't primarily with Arielle.
"I'm not here to take down Arielle," she clarified. "To me, this is about raising awareness and, most importantly, it's about unifying this group of women that want to be seen and are demanding to be heard."
As Lilliana explained to us, this Cosmopolitan México cover was merely the latest example of the Latinx community being ignored in the entertainment industry.
"What this says to us is we're not enough," Lilliana sounded off on the publication's decision to use this cover. "The people that are building from scratch aren't worthy of this honor, we're not worthy of a cover because it's going to somebody like Arielle, who represents the exact opposite of who we are and what our struggle is."
As for the influencers Lilliana would've liked to have seen on the cover? She mentioned Desi Perkins, Gaby Gomez and Dulce Candy as alternative options.
Regarding next steps, Lilliana revealed that the Latinx community is looking for an apology, a replacement digital cover and an explanation from the company on how this happened.
And, if Cosmopolitan México is looking for examples of inclusive covers to emulate, Lilliana urged everyone to take a look at Vogue Mexico's September issue.
Lilliana went on to conclude, "There is an invisibility at all levels of mainstream media for Latinos. When that invisibility happens on one of our own publications, we are right to be outraged."
Per Lilliana's translation, Cosmopolitan México issued the following regarding the controversial cover, "We appreciate (from our heart) the comments that you have left. Without a doubt, they are of GREAT value/help for us to consider the kind of content that might be of interest to you. We're proud to be able to count on all of you and know that you are here to share your thoughts. Honestly, thank you very much."