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.  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. PHOTOS: Melissa McCarthy's style evolution 
 
 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. 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.
– 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."