Cosmopolitan put the three female leads of the new Hunger Games film on separate covers of its winter issue on Monday, 2 November, shot by the photographer Richard Kern. A post carrying two of them passed a million views on X within the day, and discussions soon followed.
The reaction largely centred on two questions. Some viewers argued the imagery did not reflect the film being promoted, while others questioned why one actor appeared significantly less covered than her co-stars.
Mckenna Grace, Whitney Peak and Maya Hawke grace the cover of Cosmopolitan.
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 2, 2026
📸: Richard Kern pic.twitter.com/P12SGG1Y9G
The Film They Are Promoting
Mckenna Grace, 20, is photographed in a patterned camisole and matching underwear, holding a Yorkshire terrier. Whitney Peak, 23, is topless with her arms crossed over her chest, in metallic blue jeans. Maya Hawke, 28, wears a red lingerie-style top.
'What does this has to do with the hunger games??' one reader asked, echoing a question that appeared repeatedly across social media. Another commenter wrote: 'Why are they posing like this promoting a children's movie where they are portraying children?'
Why are they posing like this promoting a children’s movie where they are portraying children?
— 🤨 (@Pogo5673) November 2, 2026
That characterisation slightly overstates the situation. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which is scheduled for release on 20 November, is a prequel about the 50th Hunger Games, in which Haymitch Abernathy is reaped at 16. Grace plays Maysilee Donner, a District 12 tribute, and Peak plays Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch's girlfriend. Both characters are teenagers. Hawke plays Wiress, an adult victor. All three actors are adults themselves.
Others simply found the register wrong. 'I don't mean to sound like a purist but this whole photo shoot is unnecessarily sexual,' one wrote.
The Question About Who Was Undressed
The second objection was about which of the three had her shirt off. 'Why is whitney the only one not covered up but the white women are?' one reader wrote. 'Feels like the industry is exploiting her.' Another framed it as a pattern rather than a one-off: 'Sexualizing the Black woman by having her appear half naked while respecting the modesty of the white women. Racism in media symbolism.'
Sexualizing the Black woman by having her appear half naked while respecting the modesty of the white women by having them appear with clothes on.
— Arthur Vincent (@Atlas_Ace9) November 2, 2026
Racism in media symbolism
A reader writing in Portuguese described the covers coming past her again and again: 'I wondered why the only one who isn't white is topless.' Her next reply anticipated the response she expected: 'And if you point that out they'll call you woke.' Those replies drew significant support within the online discussion.
What Grace Said About Nudity
A separate interview in the same issue offers additional context, though it does not directly explain the creative decisions behind the covers. Asked about roles she would not take, Grace said: 'At this point, I definitely don't do nudity or very hypersexual things. I respect anybody who can, but it's terrifying to me.'
She was talking about acting roles rather than this shoot, and did not suggest that her comments influenced the styling decisions. Peak has likewise not explained her own cover concept, while the shoot itself was the magazine's to commission and present.
What the issue does establish is that one of the three has a publicly stated limit regarding nudity and highly sexualised material. While that does not resolve the debate, it adds context that some readers felt was relevant.
What They Actually Talked About
The interviews themselves were mostly about the actresses' experience joining a major film franchise. 'I felt way in over my head with this,' Peak said. Hawke described the three of them as bound together by it: 'We are all in it together and will sink or swim as a team.'
Kern has built a long career on provocative portraiture and sexual representation, and some readers liked the results. 'The covers look great. Solid trio,' one wrote. Yet the online argument rarely settled on the quality of the photography itself. Instead, much of the discussion stayed on why, of three women promoting the same film, one ended up with her shirt off.
