Ebony is a monthly magazine that focuses on news, culture, and entertainment. Its target audience is the African-American community, and its coverage includes the lifestyles and accomplishments of influential black people, fashion, beauty, and politics.

Ebony magazine was founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, for his Johnson Publishing Company. He sought to address African-American issues, personalities and interests in a positive and self-affirming manner. Its cover photography typically showcases prominent African-American public figures, including entertainers and politicians, such as Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, U.S. First lady Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Tyrese Gibson, and Tyler Perry. Each year, Ebony selects the "100 Most Influential Blacks in America".

After 71 years, in June 2016, Johnson Publishing sold both Ebony and Jet, another Johnson publication, to a private equity firm called Clear View Group. The new publisher is known as Ebony Media Corporation. After the publication went bankrupt in July 2020, it was purchased for $14 million by Junior Bridgeman in December 2020.