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| Alexi McCammond won't be helming 'Teen Vogue.' |
There is no such thing as a whisper or confidential wink online, just ask Alexi McCammond. She was supposed to start her new job as the editor-in-chief of the influential Teen Vogue March 24, but instead, she offered her resignation Thursday (March 18) because of troubling tweets she made about Asians.
McCammond, 27, a former reporter for Axios, was picked to helm the magazine, part of the Condé Nast lifestyle publishing empire, to carry on the legacy of previous EIC's Elaine Wenteroth and Lindsay Peoples Wagner, who shifted the voice of the online platform into a more progressive mode to appeal to an audience younger than its parent company's readership.
Shortly after McCammond's hire was announced as the third black EIC in a row, 20 staffers submitted a scathing letter expressing concern over tweets posted by McCammond ten years ago that demeaned Asians.
The troubling racist and homophobic tweets, written when she was a teenager, was first unearthed in 2019 after which she admitted that they were "deeply insensitive." They cropped again after Condé Nast announced McCammond's hire last month.
They were published on Instagram by Diane Tsui, editorial director of recommendations at The Infatuation. From there, the tweets went viral.
"Outdone by (an) Asian #whatsnew," read one of McCammond's earlier tweets.
Another tweet read: "Give me a 2/10 on my chem [chemistry] problem, cross out all of my work and don't explain what I did wrong… thanks a lot stupid Asian T.A (teaching assistant) you're great."
Referencing the comments, Tsui wrote: "Time and time again this shows that gatekeepers pay lip service to diversity. They don't believe anti-racism policies can and should include Asian Americans."
Asian American actress Olivia Munn, who has been speaking out against the recent wave of anti-Asian attacks around the country, tweeted her support for Teen Vogue's staffers.
But probably the last straw was when one of the online platform's advertisers, Ulta Beauty, decided to "pause" its seven-figure advertising campaign.
“Diversity and inclusion are core values at Ulta Beauty—and always have been,” said a spokesperson for the beautysalon company . “Our current spend with Teen Vogue is paused as we work with Condé Nast to evaluate the situation and determine next steps regarding our partnership.”The letter written by the staffers said, "We've built our outlet's reputation as a voice for justice and change - we take immense pride in our work and in creating an inclusive environment."
An apology in which she took full responsibility for the tweets and admitted that her iews have changed since her teen years and meetings with staff members failed to quell the storm over her tweets.
McCammond resigned Thursday, a day after six Asian women were shot to death in the Atlanta area, heightening the increased sensitivity over anti-Asian sentiments.
"My past tweets have overshadowed the work I've done to highlight the people and issues that I care about -- issues that Teen Vogue has worked tirelessly to share with the world -- and so Condé Nast and I have decided to part ways," she tweeted.
"I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that. I look at my work and growth in the years since, and have redoubled my commitment to growing the years to come as both a person and as a professional."
"Our most important work as a company right now is embodied in the focused efforts we are all undertaking to become more equitable and inclusive. Our commitment to these issues is sincere and unwavering," said Condé Nast's Chief People Officer, Stan Duncan in a company email.
Based in its first-ever Diversity Report, the editorial staff at Condé Nast is 69% white, 9% Black, 7% Asian and 6% Latinx.
“After speaking with Alexi this (Thursday) morning, we agreed that it was best to part ways, so as to not overshadow the important work happening at Teen Vogue,”
“It’s fair to say that Alexi McCammond’s appointment with Teen Vogue brought many difficult and important conversations to the forefront over the last few weeks," wrote Duncan
with the influential magazine's staff questioning Alexi McCammond's appointment as the incoming editor.
Ten-year old tweets when McCammond was a student resurfaced. Twenty staffers of the magazine sent a letter to the owners of Conde Nast, the magazine's publisher expressing their concerns about the tweets' anti-Asian content during this era when violence against Asian Americans is rising.
Alexi McCammond has apologized multiple times over years-old tweets that were derogatory to Asians, but the controversy over the newly appointed editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue appears nowhere close to quieting down. A major ad campaign with the magazine is now on pause over the issue, the Daily Beast reports: Ulta Beauty says in a statement that "Diversity and inclusion are core values at Ulta Beauty—and always have been. Our current spend with Teen Vogue is paused as we work with [parent company] Condé Nast to evaluate the situation and determine next steps regarding our partnership." And, the Guardian reports, the magazine's former EIC is also speaking out about McCammond.
"Her tweets and the sentiments behind them were racist and abhorrent and indefensible, period," Elaine Welteroth said on CBS' The Talk last week. "And I think at a time like this when there is a call for accountability around anti-Asian sentiment and just racist, violent actions against Asian people, we need to speak up." Sources say McCammond is meeting one-on-one with staffers to apologize, and is planning a virtual roundtable with Asian-American staffers. But some staffers have made clear their displeasure with McCammond's selection, and her immediate predecessor, Lindsay Peoples Wagner, did not want McCammond in the role. (More on the controversy here.)
Social media has changed the way we interact with each other. Those of us who dare to bare our souls over the Internet have to remind ourselves everyday that what you put out there can come back to bite you.
Something you may have messaged to a friend, can be read by the whole world. There is no such thing as whispering online.
On Tuesday, 20 Teen Vogue staffers used Instagram to say: “We’ve heard the concerns of our readers and we stand with you,” they said. “In a moment of historically high anti Asian violence … we as the staff of Teen Vogue fully reject those sentiments. We are hopeful that an internal conversation will prove fruitful in maintaining the integrity granted to us by our audience.”
Alexi McCammond apologised for the tweets in 2019 and again this week, calling them “offensive, idiotic” posts. On Thursday she posted a new statement to Twitter in which she said: “I’ve dedicated my career to giving a voice to the voiceless, and the last thing I’d ever want is to make anyone – especially our Asian brothers and sisters in particular – feel more invisible,” she wrote. “And I know that that is a unique source of pain in all of this, too: That historically the AAPI [Asian American and Pacific Islander] community has been left out or ignored in critical conversations around race, racism, justice and equality. I am determined to play a part in changing that.”
After Teen Vogue staffers put out a statement earlier this week to say they were in conversations with publisher Condé Nast about her recent appointment to the role, the magazine’s former editor-in-chief Elaine Welteroth appeared on CBS’s The Talk on Wednesday and condemned McCammond’s past actions.
“Everybody knows I was a former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue,” she said, “so I have to put that out there. That aside, it doesn’t matter – her tweets and the sentiments behind them were racist and abhorrent and indefensible, period. And I think at a time like this when there is a call for accountability around anti-Asian sentiment and just racist, violent actions against Asian people, we need to speak up.”
The tweets resurfaced at a time when hate crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise, in part due to racist attitudes to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year 2,500 incidents were reported.
Additionally the controversy appears to be causing problems with Teen Vogue’s advertisers. The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday that Ulta Beauty had “paused” an estimated seven-figure advertising campaign with the magazine because of McCammond’s tweets.
“Diversity and inclusion are core values at Ulta Beauty – and always have been,” a spokesperson told the publication. “Our current spend with Teen Vogue is paused as we work with Condé Nast to evaluate the situation and determine next steps regarding our partnership.”
In the past Ulta Beauty have been accused of racial profiling in their stores (in response the company said these “accounts are disappointing and contrary to our training and policies. We stand for equality, inclusivity and acceptance and strive to create a space that is welcoming to all.”).
The publisher also cited a note from McCammond to staff members which said: “I’m beyond sorry for what you have experienced over the last 24 hours because of me.
“You’ve seen some offensive, idiotic tweets from when I was a teenager that perpetuated harmful and racist stereotypes about Asian Americans. I apologised for them years ago, but I want to be clear today: I apologise deeply to all of you for the pain this has caused.
“There’s no excuse for language like that. I am determined to use the lessons I’ve learned as a journalist to advocate for a more diverse and equitable world. Those tweets aren’t who I am, but I understand that I have lost some of your trust, and will work doubly hard to earn it back.
“I want you to know I am committed to amplifying [Asian American] voices across our platforms, and building upon the groundbreaking, inclusive work this title is known for the world over.”
McCammond is due to start on 24 March.
We nonetheless have grave concerns about Condé Nast’s commitment to AAPI communities, especially given Teen Vogue’s outsize reach and role in shaping the views and opinions of millions of young Americans.
Although the deleted tweets have been publicly known since 2019, there were no measures taken publicly by Condé Nast proactively reassuring its commitment to diversity and inclusion to its employees and to the AAPI community.
This is discouraging, given Condé Nast’s ownership of other publications that have been accused of discriminatory and racist behavior towards journalists of color and the rise in anti-Asian sentiments across the country.
Condé Nast must make clear that its leaders at every level not only denounce the kind of views reflected in the deleted tweets, but also will examine and make transparent their hiring practices and policies. The company must also make clear how it plans to ensure that its workplace is safe for and equitable toward AAPI professionals and fair in its coverage of the AAPI community.
AAJA and its Young Professionals Network call on Condé Nast, Teen Vogue and McCammond to assure its employees, audiences, and the American public how they plan to be fully inclusive in the management, production, and voice of its publication.
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