Anna Wintour Admits THAT Kimye Cover Was Distasteful, Did It For Controversy

Anna Wintour's wry, smiling face has just broken Kim Kardashian's heart into a million pieces.

In a statement made to former CNN journalist Alina Cho, Anna Wintour admitted that of course she knew the Kim Kardashian and Kanye West cover shoot for Vogue would be perceived by some as tacky.

And that's exactly why she did it.

Wintour, who always has an air of being one step ahead (or six), basically admitted that she was perfectly aware that the cover would be controversial, but that controversy makes headlines.

She wanted Vogue to be "talked about" and knew that putting the world's most love-to-hate celebrities front and centre would have tongues wagging right into the next decade.

Here's the full statement, as reported by Fashionista:

"I see the role of Vogue to reflect what’s going on in the culture. The first celebrity that I put on the cover of Vogue was Madonna, and that was considered completely controversial at the time, too. It’s such a long time ago probably no one remembers, but she was a very controversial figure. Now she’s part of the establishment."

"I think if we just remain deeply tasteful and just put deeply tasteful people on the cover, it would be a rather boring magazine! Nobody would talk about us. It’s very important that people do talk about us."

"Going back to Estée Lauder’s decision to make Kendall Jenner the face of Estée Lauder. What a fantastic decision that was! They have a wonderful brand that’s very traditionally American, and they decided they want to shake it up and reach a different audience. Now and again one has to do things like that. I think it’s part of the excitement and part of being a journalist. I hope another Kim Kardashian comes along this year!"

OUCH.

While the Vogue cover was, indeed, one of the most talked about fashion shoots for some time, we feel that this most recent comment will make a few ripples too!

Kim Kardashian's admiration for Anna Wintour has been widely documented.

Kim appeared on her television show Keeping Up With The Kardashians gushing about how landing the Vogue cover was just THE ULTIMATE, plus there's even the rumour that she named her baby daughter North because Anna Wintour said so.

And Anna, in the past, has seemed to carefully support the couple.

She previously said of the shoot:

"As for the cover, my opinion is that it is both charming and touching, and it was, I should add, entirely our idea to do it."

This latest statement, though, appears to undermine the support she has previously given them, by suggesting that the pair are not "deeply tasteful" and by suggesting that the cover was constructed entirely for the headlines it would generate.

This is a BFF break-up of EPIC proportions.

Poor Kim, we can practically hear her sobbing into her Balmain. And Kanye won't be too pleased either - for years it's been reported that he wants to turn Kim into a fashion icon and thought this Vogue cover had meant that she'd finally made it.

This news comes in the wake of Kim Kardashian's latest magazine controversy, as her cover shoot for Paper Magazine has been slated in the press as being the most tasteless thing she's ever done (save, perhaps, for that sex tape).

[Kim Kardashian And Kanye West Land Their First Vogue Cover]

[Kim Kardashian Steps Out Looking Like A Vibrator, World Pretends Not To Notice]

What do you think? Did Anna get the last laugh? Let us know in the comments.