UPDATE: A source tells E! News Melissa "loves the cover." 
 
 Safe to say this isn't the type of response Elle magazine was hoping to receive over their annual "Women in Hollywood" issue. 
 
 The high-fashion mag has found itself on the receiving end of rampant criticism over the publication's November cover, which features The Heat star Melissa McCarthy. 
 
 And while the 43-year-old actress undoubtedly looks stunning in the shot, critics are slamming Elle for covering up the curvy actress, who's barely showing any skin while bundled up in a charcoal Marina Rinaldi coat. 
 
 ||||| Melissa McCarthy's photo shoot for the cover of the November issue of Elle magazine has caused controversy, but the "Mike & Molly" actress doesn't quite see what the big deal is. 
 
 "[ Elle is] a magazine I grew up with and I hadn't done anything quite like that," she told omg! Insider. "I was nervous… It was kind of amazing." 
 
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 McCarthy, 43, posed for the magazine's cover, along with Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley, both of whom wore skimpy clothing for their shoots. The more full-figured "Bridesmaids" actress, however, was photographed in a coat, which, her reps have said she picked out. 
 
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 Critics have slammed the fashion choice, claiming that it sends a negative message. 
 
 "Times have changed. Fashion has changed," former model Cynthia Bailey told "Good Morning America." " I just immediately thought, 'What a missed opportunity to represent all the curvy girls of the world.'" 
 
 Elle magazine did not respond to a request for comment. ||||| Melissa McCarthy on the cover of the November 2013 issue of ELLE Credit: Thomas Whiteside 
 
 The heat is on! Not everyone loves Melissa McCarthy's Elle cover for its November Women in Hollywood issue. In fact, a significant number of fans are irate over the fashion glossy's decision to photograph her swathed in an overcoat, her face partially concealed by her hair -- especially in comparison to the magazine's other cover girls that month, all of whom are much more exposed in their photos. 
 
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 Thomas Whiteside 
 
 In an essay for Slate about McCarthy's cover-up, culture editor June Thomas wrote of the full-figured actress' Elle shoot, "[She] was photographed in a Marina Rinaldi coat so huge that she could hide her Mike and Molly co-star Billy Gardel underneath. McCarthy’s hair covers a quarter of her gorgeous face, and with her hands stuffed deep into her coat pockets, the only visible flesh is a tiny triangle between the coat’s lapels and the briefest glimpse of calf." 
 
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 Thomas Whiteside 
 
 Elle has since released a statement defending their styling of McCarthy. "On all of our shoots, our stylists work with the stars to choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different: Melissa loved this look, and is gorgeous on our cover," the magazine said. "We are thrilled to honor her as one of our Women in Hollywood this year." 
 
 While the Heat star certainly looks glamorous and stylish in the cashmere outerwear, she is definitely and suspiciously far more concealed than her fellow honorees are on their covers. Reese Witherspoon wears a sexy cutout Versace dress on hers; Shailene Woodley is clad in a black one-piece swimsuit; and while Penelope Cruz, who was pregnant at the time of the shoot, doesn't show her body at all on her cover, her face is left relatively bare and natural-looking. 
 
 Nico 
 
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 This isn't the first time that a photo of McCarthy has generated controversy. Critics cried Photoshop foul over movie posters for The Heat, which featured a seemingly slimmer McCarthy next to Sandra Bullock.
– Elle responded to the uproar over Melissa McCarthy's controversial covered-up cover look in no uncertain terms, Us reports: "On all of our shoots, our stylists work with the stars to choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different: Melissa loved this look, and is gorgeous on our cover. We are thrilled to honor her as one of our Women in Hollywood this year." Critics were unhappy that McCarthy was featured in an enormous coat, while other cover stars wore tight and/or skin-baring outfits. McCarthy herself had already called the experience of posing for Elle "kind of amazing," ABC News reports, citing OMG!. And a source assures E! that the actress "loves the cover."