Readers react to Gwyneth Paltrow's Bon Appétit cover

(Matt Jones/Bon Apppétit)

After months of speculation in the food and publishing world, rumors that Gwyneth Paltrow would grace the cover of Bon Appétit's June issue proved true, drawing swift reactions from readers.

Longtime fans of the magazine took to the comments page, disgruntled by a move they described as a ploy to attract readers - a strategy they said cheapens the publication's credibility as a gastronomic magazine.

"I thought I was looking at InStyle and not BA!" wrote ‘Jevi.' "I'm so, so disappointed in this cover."

Bethcash points out that Food & Wine magazine also put Paltrow on their April cover, calling them out for being "unoriginal" and the move "a desperate reach for a new audience."

"I think your readers love BA for what it is: a food magazine. We don't need a 'celebrity.'"

The decision to put a celebrity on the second issue helmed by the magazine's new editor-in-chief has been a controversial one, drawing fire from longtime readers and Paltrow haters who have made a hobby of lambasting the movie star/singer/writer/chef for being smug and too perfect.

The leaked cover started circulating on the web Tuesday by popular food blogger Chez Pim, showing a smiling Paltrow tucking into a bowl of pasta wearing an electric blue dress in her London kitchen.

In what could be interpreted as a pre-emptive way of defending his decision, Adam Rapoport wrote in his Letter from the Editor, "I realize that putting a movie star on the cover of a food magazine isn't typical...But the thing is, food is never just about food. It's about catching up with your friends over a good bottle of Nuits-Saint-Georges."

In fact, Rapoport also braces readers for the prospect of seeing people on their cover "a few times a year."

In the somewhat fawning cover story, Paltrow quashes rumors she's developing her own food magazine, and husband Chris Martin - Coldplay front man - makes a fleeting appearance. A photographer captures shots of the waifishly thin, 38-year-old bombshell as she cooks dishes like grilled chicken with peach barbecue sauce, corn Vichyssoise, grilled halibut with mango-avocado salad and strawberry shortcake sliders.

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