Update: Rebecca Romijn denies dissing Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid. The former supermodel tweeted at both women, "don't believe the #clickbait. Never talked smack about you. Both amazing & beautiful," along with a photo of the pair. But it's not clear whether Romijn is claiming her comments were misconstrued, or denying that she said them altogether.
This story was originally published on April 26 at 10:15 p.m.
Most people would consider Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid successful models, but former model Rebecca Romijn thinks they are just "social media stars."
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Romijn made it clear that she thinks Jenner and Hadid's modeling success has more to do with their popularity on Instagram than anything else.
"No one has proven yet that numbers of followers translates to revenue," Romijn said of the new crop of models, who have more experience on social media than the runway. "So it is frustrating. I know a lot of people – legitimate fashion people – can’t stand it."
Romijn doesn't get specific on who these fashion people are, but she does say that they "hate it that these, you know, social media stars are now the supermodels in fashion. They are not true supermodels."
The host of GSN's Skin Wars says that part of the reason why Hadid and Jenner are doing so well in the fashion world is because of Anna Wintour and other magazine editors who have legitimized them with high-profile spreads.
"I have always looked to Vogue magazine to lead the way, not be a follower. I rely on Vogue to set the standard, not follow what everybody else is doing.," Romijn said. "So I have been disappointed that fashion magazines have been supporting this trend of social media stars to set our style standards. But it will change; fashion always does."
One change Romijn does support is seeing more relatable women on the cover of magazines, specifically Sports Illustrated's decision to put plus-size model Ashley Graham — a first for the magazine — on the cover of their most recent Swimsuit Issue.
While Romijn isn't a big fan of Jenner or Hadid, she has nothing but nice things to say about Graham.
"Ashley Graham is one of the most beautiful women I have ever laid eyes on," Romijn said. "She is incredibly healthy and I think it’s fantastic that SI is opening up our standards of beauty to include somebody that a lot more people in our country can relate to."
She added, "Women don’t get sexier than Ashley Graham — she is just as hot as can be."
Safe to say, Graham woud fall into the "true supermodel" category.
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