LowDown
By Lloyd Grove
The Daily News
B. Smith is ballistic - and Essence is bewildered.
The 35th anniversary issue in May of the African-American-oriented lifestyle mag features the famed restaurateur and lifestyle guru as one of "35 of Our Most Beautiful Women."
Smith appears in a glamorous full-page photo accompanied by celebratory prose.
But yesterday she was demanding an apology for a sentence describing her as "licensing B. Smith to front a line of classy must-haves at Bed, Bath & Beyond."
"I find this devastating," Smith told me. "I haven't worked so hard all my life to be called a 'front' for anything!"
Dan Gasby, Smith's husband and business partner, told me Essence hasn't been the same since its black ownership sold the mag to Time Warner a few months ago.
"It's sad," Gasby told me. "Essence has lost its way."
Smith complains in a letter to Essence honcho Michelle Ebanks: "My company now has over 45 individual products being produced and sold exclusively at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I am not just a 'front' for these product lines, but am actively involved in their development and production. Essence's choice of words has damaged me personally and my company's image and reputation professionally."
A stunned spokeswoman for the mag noted that Smith is featured again in the June issue, and added: "Essence has the utmost respect for B. Smith and her accomplishments."
As for Gasby's claim, "Nothing could be further from the truth," the spokeswoman said.
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