There was an uproar recently when the Boston bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. was featured on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine. People were curious as to why Rolling Stone wanted to glorify this guy.
It appears now that Tsarnaev was not their first choice for the cover, it was instead Kanye West, until he backed out. West is not a huge fan of the media, as evidenced by his attack on the paparazzi, and the interview part of the cover may have been why he backed out.
Kanye West has appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone twice in the past according to Hotnewhiphop, and they speculate that due to the birth of his newborn daughter, North West, Kanye declined because he didn't want to have to talk about her. Kanye is typically not one to welcome many interviews in the first place.
Due to the choice of Tsarnaev being on the cover of the newest edition many retailers declined to stock the issue on their shelves according to Gawker. Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston, denounced the choice in a public statement as well.
While it is not unusual for magazine covers to switch their programming around several times before the issue is released, it is interesting how this worked out. Kanye West a controversial guy himself, turned down a cover that led to Tsarnaev taking his place and causing a huge stir.