GQ's editor Dylan Jones was foolish to criticise the magazine's latest cover star, Jeremy Corbyn
By insulting the Labour leader on the ‘Today’ programme, Jones didn’t just shoot himself in the foot, he removed his own leg
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Your support makes all the difference.Jeremy Corbyn is an extremely unlikely weapon in the battle to sell glossy magazines (in a shrinking market), especially one that’s more interested in fast cars, scantily clad women and fine dining than left-wing politics and ending tuition fees.
What were his notoriously picky advisers thinking when they agreed to let Jezza be photographed for the January issue of GQ? Corbyn’s craggy features (some cynics detect a spot of airbrushing) mark a sea-change from those of previous choices like Cara Delevingne, Rihanna and Zayn Malik.
To promote the scoop, GQ editor (and Cameron pal) Dylan Jones went on Radio 4’s Today programme to disclose what a pain in the backside the Labour leader and his entourage turned out to be. I thought for one moment he was talking about a diva like Mariah Carey, not a twinkly vegetarian pensioner who collects manhole covers rather than pinups.
Jones revealed the interviewer arrived as a fan, and “was quickly disillusioned”. Worse, Corbyn “couldn’t name his own business adviser or even come up with a book or film he had recently read”. Apparently, the Labour leader wasn’t “fantastic on policy detail” and seemed “like a character out of the Wizard of Oz”. Jones reckoned “he was being pushed around like grandpa in a Xmas photo”.
This trashing of your own scoop marks a first in public relations. Jones didn’t just shoot himself in the foot, he removed his own leg. Corbyn has my sympathy. It’s a shame GQ wasn’t interested in those manhole covers – as far as I know, Thames Water don’t pay for advertising in glossies.
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