Top 10 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Scandals

At the 2016 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which was shot in Paris, top models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid both walked the runway, despite not being “official” Angels for the brand. As far as tradition goes, typically only Angels get to wear wings during the big show, but both of these social media stars sported them in this instance. Fans were upset that contracted Angel Martha Hunt didn’t appear in a set of wings on the opening runway while Jenner wore two in different outfits. One Twitter user went so far as to call this “honestly disgusting”.

In 2013, Taylor Swift performed at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show, and one of the models later made a comment that may have changed her career forever. When a reporter asked Jessica Hart if she could imagine Swift actually walking as a model, she responded negatively. The model has walked back on her statement, saying she didn’t mean to disparage the star. The following year however, Hart didn’t participate in the show, and in fact she hasn’t been back since 2013. Swift, who did actually strut her stuff in 2014, allegedly requested that Hart did not walk alongside her while she performed. Yikes.

Katy Perry was rumored to be participating in the 2017 show, which was going to take place in Shanghai, but in the end she was allegedly not able to enter the country to perform. There were reports that the pop star was in fact "banned from China indefinitely” because of an outfit choice she made back in 2015. While performing in Taipei, Taiwan, she wore a sunflower dress that was deemed to be a political statement, because the flower had been used by the Taiwanese as a symbol of a movement protesting free trade agreements. She also draped the Taiwanese flag over her at some point.

Also slated to appear at the 2017 show in Shanghai was Gigi Hadid, but she too neglected to actually appear in the runway extravaganza - for a totally different reason. Hadid faced accusations of racism after her sister, Bella, posted a video in which Gigi squinted her eyes while holding a Buddha-shaped cookie in what seemed to be an imitation of his face. While she did later apologize for the perceived slight, many were still happy that she was unable to come to China because of the way that she is perceived in the country.

Any of the women who model in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show sure have an otherworldly look about them, and it seems like over the years the average model has become slimmer and slimmer. Several models have opened up about the pressure that the company reportedly puts on them to lose weight before the big day, with Erin Heatherton being the most notable example. She stopped working with the brand in 2013 because the unattainable body standards made her “depressed”. Luckily, today she is using her platform to promote body positivity and self acceptance.

In 2004, following the memorable Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction” involving Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, Victoria’s Secret decided not to hold their annual fashion runway show. Executive Ed Razek attributed the decision though to the fact that they wanted to find innovative ways to market the company. So instead, they held the Angels Across America Tour, which featured some of the top models going to four major cities. Tyra Banks had the honor of sporting the Fantasy Bra that year, which was valued at a whopping $10 million.

At the 2002 iteration of the show, protestors representing PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) managed to storm the stage holding signs that read “Gisele: Fur Scum” as Gisele Bündchen strutted her stuff down the runway. They were targeting her specifically because of her contract with furrier Blackglama. Though the top model seemed unphased at the time, the incident had a big impact on her and she took the message to heart, later refusing to be involved in campaigns involving fur. She would go on to tell Vogue, “You need to be responsible for the choices you make.”

As more information was unveiled about the Jeffrey Epstein case in the late 2010s and early 2020s, more and more people have been implicated. The financier convicted of multiple offenses had friends in many high places, and one of those connections was with Leslie Wexner, the founder of L Brands, which controls Victoria’s Secret. Though Epstein himself never actually worked for the company, he did have an uncommon influence over Wexner as his financial adviser, and even lied to women telling them he was a recruiter for the lingerie company.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show made a name for the brand with its over-the-top theming and extravagant production value. But on several occasions, the company has made missteps with the elaborate costumes that it uses, drawing accusations of cultural appropriation from a variety of groups. The most well known instance is probably the Native American style headdress worn by Karlie Kloss in 2012, but the brand didn’t seem to learn their lesson. In subsequent years, they continued to use traditional garments specific to various cultures, from Chinese style dragons to “tribal” elements, causing widespread criticism.

Then-L Brands chief marketing officer, Edward Razek, did an interview with Vogue in 2018 that seemed for many to summarize all of the issues that Victoria’s Secret had. When discussing expanded size ranges and diversity in model casting for the Runway Show, Razek said that the show was a fantasy, implying that it didn’t need to represent the reality of American women. He also used this as his reasoning for not having “transsexuals” in the show. He retired in 2019 and is thankfully no longer involved with the brand.