Mitchell wore blackface and a pimp outfit on the album cover, one of the most controversial moments of her career that has been widely criticised as racist. She called her blackface alter ego "Art Nouveau", inspired by a black man who once complimented her while walking down an LA street. She wore blackface several more times throughout her career and has consistently defended her use of it as late as 2017. However, in 2024, the album cover art on streaming services and physical reissues was changed to a photo of Mitchell’s face seemingly inside the open mouth of a wolflike dog, an outtake from the 1985 photo sessions for the later album Dog Eat Dog. No announcement was made about the change nor any official reason given, and Mitchell has not commented on the matter.
Mitchell wore blackface and a pimp outfit on the album cover one of the most controversial moments of her career that has been widely criticised as racist She called her blackface alter ego "Art Nouveau" inspired by a black man who once complimented her while walking down an LA street She wore blackface several more times throughout her career and has consistently defended her use of it as late as 2017 However in 2024 the album cover art on streaming services and physical reissues was changed to a photo of Mitchell’s face seemingly inside the open mouth of a wolflike dog an outtake from the 1985 photo sessions for the later album Dog Eat Dog No announcement was made about the change nor any official reason given and Mitchell has not commented on the matter