Victoria Hearst Rallies With Christian Group Against Hearst Corporation's Cosmopolitan

Victoria Hearst Launches Campaign Against Family's Magazine

The Hearst Corporation's Cosmopolitan Magazine has come under attack by a Hearst family member who claims the magazine contains "pornographic content."

Victoria Hearst, the granddaughter of the corporation's founder William Randolph Hearst, has paired up with Nicole Weider, a Christian leader, model and founder of ProjectInspired.com, in a campaign to force Cosmopolitan to limit its sales to adults only.

After going through a bad break-up in the 90's, Victoria Hearst prayed to God saying, "I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. You take the wheel. You drive. I’ll go wherever You lead.”

It was this transformation, the New York Observer reports, that led Hearst to use her inheritance to buy a 10,000 sq. foot barn in Ridgway, Colorado where she founded Praise Him Ministries in 2001, which includes Praise Productions Christian Store and Ridgway Christian Center. She also began to feel that her family's business could have negative affects on young girls.

“About 11 years ago, I contacted Frank Bennack and the Board of the Hearst Corporation and told them that what they are publishing in Cosmopolitan magazine was pornographic. I had the support of two female psychologists and counselors who attest that this content hurts young girls.

Nicole Weider went through her own Christian conversion after a 'promiscuous' youth, according to the New York Observer and she too wanted to help girls make better lifestyle decisions.

After seeing a group of young girls hovering over a Cosmo feature, Weider told the Observer she was shocked to see what they were looking at: “It seriously talked about all these freaky sex positions I’ve never even heard of,” she said. It was then that she began her petition to make Cosmo for adults only.

"If Cosmo is for adults, and not minors; then it should be sold ONLY to adults," Weider writes in her change.org petition. "I understand they have a right to free speech and to print what they want, however it is a crime to market graphic sex tips to underage kids."

The petition currently has 33,000 signatures as reported by PR Web, and demands that the magazine be covered in non-transparent paper.

“We are not asking Cosmopolitan to change their content. We simply want them to take responsibility for it. They say it’s for adults, so let them sell it only to adults. This is what we are in communication with the FTC about. If they are going to print sexually explicit articles and images, it should not be marketed and sold to kids. It’s that simple.”

According to Styleite.com, Cosmo magazine is a worldwide bestseller with editions in 32 languages.

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