Franca Sozzani, the free-wheeling Italian Vogue editor who decided to make July's issue of her magazine all-black, also decided to put Diddy on the cover of her country's L'Uomo Vogue. You know he felt like he had to get in on some of that Vogue Italia action. He threw a big party in New York last night to celebrate.

Better late than never. Tyra Banks invited an army of black models old and young — From Pat Cleveland and Beverly Johnson to Chanel Iman and Selita Ebanks — to her show to celebrate Vogue Italia's all-black issue. It goes without saying that Naomi Campbell wasn't in attendance, right?

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• What exactly is L'Oreal advertising with this photo — some sort of race-reversal cream? [CF]

• I don't know. Maybe you're bored at work and want to see a video of Nelly's Sean John underwear photo shoot. [TLF]

• Kanye West wants everyone to stop discriminating against gays… and Soulja Boy. [MTV]

• Here's how the blogosphere — including one of you guys — responded to Vogue Italia. [BV]

• Joe says R. Kelly tried to sabotage his career. [EUR]

When Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani announced her decision to create an all-black issue, she recognized that it might not go over that well in Italy."Maybe in our country it is not the best idea," she said. "But I don't care. I think it is not my problem if they don't like it — it's their problem." It's definitely not a problem at all. Even if it's the lowest-selling Vogue Italia of the year in Italy (although there's no indication that it is), it is certainly the best-selling Vogue Italia issue in the States. This explains why every one I've gone into for the past week has been sold out of them.

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Toccara Jones, former America's Next Top Model and current BET-employed "television personality," quite possibly has the most annoying voice I've ever heard. When her mouth is closed, one can better appreciate her great beauty, which is on display here in her spread in the infamous July Vogue Italia. How angry are Danielle, Naima, Saleisha and Eva right now?

• Jay-Z gets the Vogue Italia treatment. No comment. [Bossip]

• Nas releases his first video off of Untitled. No offensive t-shirts. [CL]

• Nick Cannon rushed into marrying Mariah Carey to avoid lots of awkward questions from his friends. For the record, this isn't a good reason to rush into marriage. [SP]

• Here's your chance to let the Democratic Party know what's on your mind. [WAOD]

• This dude's idiotic and so is his op-ed. [JJP]

Although the recent LeBron James Vogue cover didn't do so well on the stands for what, perhaps, are obvious reasons, there's a lot of speculation that the all-black issue of Vogue Italia will exceed money-making expectations. For one thing the issue — see sneak-peek pics* from Naomi Campbell's Vogue Italia spread above and below — has received international attention. For another thing, far more ads were sold for this special issue than normal. Sure, part of it is the novelty aspect. But it also dispels the myth that black models can't sell magazines or products.

“We’re all conditioned to see beauty,” [said model Veronica Webb], and the magazine, filled with photos of glamorous black models, “helps to condition people’s eyes. When you look at page after page after page of beautiful, gorgeous dark girls, you go, ‘Wow! Wow! Wow! I want some of that. How can I do it?’ ”

Webb noted that advertising in the special issue is up 30 percent over a normal edition. But, to underline the problem the industry has with diversity, nearly every one of the ads features white models.

*Some NSFW

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Surprise, surprise: Barack Obama was one of Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani's inspirations when she decided to dedicate July's issue of her magazine to black models. Of course, he wasn't the only inspiration. Sozzani was well aware of the problem of the rapidly-disappearing black model. She wanted to address it and recruited famous photographer Stephen Meisel to bring her vision to the page. He spoke to the New York Times recently about working on the issue.

Having worked at one time with nearly all the models he chose for the black issue — Iman, Ms. Campbell, Tyra Banks, Jourdan Dunn, Ms. Kebede, Ms. Wek, Pat Cleveland, Karen Alexander — Mr. Meisel had his own feelings. “I thought, it’s ridiculous, this discrimination,” said Mr. Meisel, speaking by phone from his home in Los Angeles. “It’s so crazy to live in such a narrow, narrow place. Age, weight, sexuality, race — every kind of prejudice.”

Although Sozzani initially objected, Meisel also photographed America's Next Top Model cast-off Toccara Jones for the issue. "I met Toccara and thought, she’s beautiful," hes said "What’s the deal with her? She’s great and she’s sexy.” Good thing he never saw her on BET's Take the Cake. But like the nails-on-a-chalkboard quality of her voice, her beauty cannot be denied.

The issue hits European stands next Thursday. Click through for some sneak-peek photos, and expect to see more photos from the issue in the days to come.

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