'Elle' Responds to McCarthy Cover Controversy

Elle Magazine has come under some serious fire recently for their annual November "Women in Hollywood" issue, in which they covered up actress Melissa McCarthy in an oversized coat, while showing a lot more skin on the issue's other covers featuring leaner actresses such as Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Marion Cotillard.

The magazine's decision to cover up McCarthy angered plenty of fans, who saw the cover shot as a move to hide her plus-size figure.

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"This year, Elle's token plus-size cover girl is McCarthy, who was photographed in a Marina Rinaldi coat so huge that she could hide her Mike and Molly co-star Billy Gardel underneath," Slate.com wrote. " ... Perhaps photographer Thomas Whiteside only knows how to photograph the usual stick insect models, because he clearly has no clue how to highlight McCarthy's curves."

But now Elle is responding to all the controversy, stressing that McCarthy herself "loved" the look.

"On all of our shoots, our stylists work with the stars to choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different: Melissa loved this look, and is gorgeous on our cover," the magazine said in a statement. "We are thrilled to honor her as one of our Women in Hollywood this year."

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This is hardly the first time McCarthy's weight has made headlines.

New York Observer film critic Rex Reed was widely criticized for his scathing review of Identity Thief in February, in which he called the actress "tractor-sized" and "a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success."

But according to McCarthy herself, weight is hardly an issue when she has "two great kids and the dreamiest husband on the planet."

"I've been every size in the world. Parts of my twenties, I was in great shape, but I didn't appreciate it. If I was a 6 or an 8, I thought, 'Why aren't I a 2 or a 4?'" she told More Magazine in June. "Now I feel like I have two great kids and the dreamiest husband on the planet, and everything else is just a work in progress."