Fashion fans couldn’t get enough of his fighting words, and his book’s release date was even moved up from September to May 19 due to the hype.

But Talley, 70, seemed to backtrack during an interview with Vulture, insisting that his tome “is not a vengeful, bitchy tell-all.”

“I will not criticize her,” Talley added of Wintour, also 70. “My book is an epistle to everyone that I love. It’s a love letter to Anna Wintour. I love her deeply.”

Still, it’s clear the longtime Vogue editor-at-large has been wounded by Wintour’s actions. After working at the magazine for decades as the iconic EIC’s right-hand man — often, he writes, without proper recognition for his contributions — Talley’s usual duties hosting the Vogue podcast and conducting red-carpet interviews dried up without explanation.

“No one ever took the time to send me an email or [make] a phone call,” he told Vulture. “This is what has hurt me. It makes me emotionally devastated because I could’ve walked through the arctic floes for Vogue and Anna Wintour.”

Talley added that he’s gladly return to his duties at the magazine if Wintour asked, “but she never will.”