Transgender-identified model Kim Petras will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated this year, the outlet announced Monday.
The 30-year-old singer and model will be the second trans-identified model to be featured on a cover. The first, Leyna Bloom, modeled for SI in 2021.
“It’s super exciting to have my Sports Illustrated cover and album announcement happening at the same time! Yu Tsai and the whole team at Sports Illustrated made me feel really comfortable and like I belonged there. I had the best time and, honestly, it was a huge confidence boost,” Petras told People in an interview.
As if being a Grammy-Award winning artist and history maker wasn't enough, Kim Petras is now adding SI Swimsuit COVER model to her list of accomplishments. https://t.co/ESSyOwdMJI
— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) May 15, 2023
Megan Fox, Martha Stewart, and Brooks Nader were also featured in this year’s swimsuit issue.
“I was so excited when I got the call to be in Sports Illustrated,” Petras told SI. “It’s very iconic, and a lot of very iconic people have done it before, so [it was a] big dream come true for me.”
Petras had another big announcement Monday. The musician’s debut album, “Feed the Beast,” will be out on June 23.
“I am so excited that my album is coming out,” the singer and model told People. “It has been in the works for three years. I’ve really sacrificed my entire life to it and have been writing these songs that mean the world to me. I feel like it’s something that you’ve never heard from me before!”
Petras caused controversy earlier this year during a Grammy performance with Sam Smith, who identifies as non-binary. The duo took home the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their hit single “Unholy.” But then the overtly satanic-themed and sexualized performance earned the pair a lot of backlash.
Petras defended the controversial performance later, saying, “I think a lot of people, honestly, have kind of labeled what I stand for and what Sam stands for as religiously not cool.”
“And I personally grew up wondering about religion and wanting to be a part of it, but then slowly realizing it doesn’t want me to be a part of it,” the singer continued. “So it’s a take on not being able to choose religion and not being able to live the way that people might want you to live, because, you know, as a trans person, I’m kind of already not wanted in religion.”