Omama Altaleb, special to wtop.com
WASHINGTON — A popular women’s fitness magazine has apologized to a cancer survivor for using her photo to make fun of a fitness fashion trend.
SELF magazine issued a statement to NBC San Diego after the local news station interviewed Monika Allen about her picture in the upcoming April issue.
The magazine apologized “for the association of her picture in any way other than to support her efforts to be healthy.”
The photo captures Allen running at the LA marathon dressed in a tutu as Wonder Woman. She was not expecting the magazine to use her photo to ridicule her choice in wardrobe under the section “The BS Meter.”
The “racing tutu epidemic,” as the magazine captions it, is a trend marathoners follow because they think wearing a tutu makes them run faster.
NBC San Diego reports Allen was offended.
She was in the middle of treatment for brain cancer when the photo was taken. Allen made the tutu to encourage herself to keep running.
As co-founder of the company Glam Runner, Allen has made 2,000 tutus within three years. The company donates the money to the nonprofit Girls on the Run, to empower young girls to be healthy and fit.
“I feel like we were misled in providing the picture. Had I known how the picture was going to be used, I wouldn’t have wanted to send it,” she tells NBC San Diego.
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