Arts & Entertainment
Victoria’s Secret exec apologizes for anti-transgender model comments
CMO Ed Razek calls the famous fashion show ‘a fantasy’

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
L Brands, Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek issued an apology after saying he didn’t think the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show should cast transgender models.
In an interview with Vogue, Razek refers to transgender people as “transsexuals” and says transgender models shouldn’t be cast because “the show is a fantasy.”
“The brand has a specific image, has a point of view. It has a history,” Razek says. “It’s hard to build a brand. It’s hard to build Vogue, Ralph Lauren, Apple, Starbucks. You have a brand position and you have a brand point of view. The girls who have earned their way into the show have worked for it.”
“If you’re asking if we’ve considered putting a transgender model in the show or looked at putting a plus-size model in the show, we have,” Razek continued. “So it’s like, why don’t you do 50? Why don’t you do 60? Why don’t you do 24? It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is. It is the only one of its kind in the world, and any other fashion brand in the world would take it in a minute, including the competitors that are carping at us. And they carp at us because we’re the leader. They don’t talk about each other. I accept that.”
His comments received plenty of backlash especially from transgender and plus-size models.
All this VS drama got me feeling so nauseous.
— Carmen Carrera (@Carmen_Carrera) November 10, 2018
The worst feeling in the world is knowing you have what it takes but are being denied simply for being who you are.
— Carmen Carrera (@Carmen_Carrera) November 10, 2018
Bye Victoria’s Secret you’re canceled. Trans women are a fantasy and you don’t deserve them.
— Mike Ferlita (@MkFerlita) November 11, 2018
Who needs VS anyway?! They never supported plus ladies & now they are trying to dis my trans sisters? Hell nah. Kiss my fat ass @VictoriasSecret pic.twitter.com/aRevb4Qfee
— Tess Holliday ? (@Tess_Holliday) November 10, 2018
Razek issues an apology via Victoria’s Secret saying that his remarks “came across as insensitive” and that Victoria’s Secret would “absolutely cast a transgender model…We’ve had transgender models come to castings…And like many others, they didn’t make it…But it was never about gender.”
Please read this important message from Ed Razek, Chief Marketing Officer, L Brands (parent company of Victoria’s Secret). pic.twitter.com/CW8BztmOaM
— Victoria’s Secret (@VictoriasSecret) November 10, 2018
The apology was too little too late for some people.
Chile that weak ass apology!!! Keep it!!! “It’s not about gender”?? Girl bye and girl stop!! It’s ridiculous in 2018 and with all that’s going on in the world, your company would say something so heinous and discriminatory. Who is y’all publicist??#problematicAF #CANCELLED
— Alexandra Grey (@1alexandragrey) November 10, 2018
Nawww, keep that same energy. He said what he said and how he said it. We get it. We aren’t welcome. ✌
— Isis King (@MsIsisKing) November 10, 2018
There has yet to be a transgender model to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show since the show’s conception in 1995.

The fourth annual Equality Prince William Pride was held at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas, Va. on Saturday, May 17.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)






















The Washington Blade held its 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Friday, May 16. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer spoke along with State Sen. Russ Huxtable, CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey, Blade Editor Kevin Naff, and Clear Space Theatre Managing Director Joe Gfaller. The event raises funds for the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which was awarded to AU student Abigail Hatting.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)



















In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.

Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”