Teen Vogue staffers openly slam their new editor-in-chief for ‘past racist and homophobic tweets’
Teen Vogue staffers slam newly-appointed editor-in-chief, 27, for her teenage ‘racist and homophobic tweets’ – weeks after her boyfriend quit White House press job after threatening to ‘destroy’ female reporter
- Former Axios political reporter Alexi McCammond, 27, was named as Teen Vogue’s editor in chief last week
- About 20 Teen Vogue staffers penned a letter to parent company Conde Naste on Monday after a series of McCammond’s 2011 tweets resurfaced
- She used ‘gay’ and ‘homo’ as insults and also mocked Asian people
- It comes just weeks after her boyfriend TJ Ducklo, who worked as President Biden’s deputy press secretary, was forced to resign from the White House
- He had threatened a Politico journalist who wanted to report on McCammond and Ducklo’s secret relationship
- The White House came under fire for initially deciding to suspend Ducklo for one week, despite Biden’s vow of a zero-tolerance policy for abusive behavior
- Ducklo was not fired and instead resigned from Biden’s administration
Teen Vogue staffers have publicly slammed their newly appointed editor-in-chief over resurfaced tweets she posted back in 2011 mocking Asian and gay people.
Former Axios political reporter Alexi McCammond, 27, was named as Teen Vogue’s new editor in chief last Friday.
About 20 Teen Vogue staffers penned a letter to parent company Conde Naste on Monday after a series of tweets written by McCammond when she was 17 and 18 resurfaced.
It comes just weeks after McCammond was embroiled in a scandal involving her White House boyfriend TJ Ducklo.
Ducklo, who worked as President Biden’s deputy press secretary, was forced to resign from the White House for threatening a Politico journalist who wanted to report on McCammond and Ducklo’s secret relationship.
Former Axios political reporter Alexi McCammond, 27, was named as Teen Vogue’s new editor in chief last Friday. About 20 Teen Vogue staff on Monday criticized the appointment over tweets written by McCammond in 2011 when she was aged 17 and 18
McCammond’s boyfriend TJ Ducklo, who worked as President Biden’s deputy press secretary, was forced to resign from the White House last month for threatening a Politico journalist who wanted to report on McCammond and Ducklo’s relationship
McCammond’s resurfaced tweets, which have been widely shared online, include one in which she wrote: ‘Googling how to not wake up with swollen Asian eyes’.
Another now-deleted tweet read: ‘Give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don’t explain what i did wrong… thanks a lot stupid asian T.A. you’re great.’
McCammond also used ‘gay’ and ‘homo’ as insults online and questioned why an article about baseball umpire Dale Scott coming out as gay was ‘newsworthy’.
The tweets emerged at the weekend after Diana Tsui, editor at The Infatuation, shared a number of McCammond’s posts on Instagram.
Actress Olivia Munn noticed and responded: ‘What the actual f**k’.
Tsui had written: ‘I’m tired of big media organizations pretending to give a damn about diversity and inclusion. And this especially is a slap in the face given what’s happened to Asian Americans in the past year.’
The statement from Teen Vogue staffers, which is being widely shared on Twitter, says: ‘As more than 20 members of the staff of Teen Vogue, 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.
Among the posts which have been widely shared online were ‘Googling how to not wake up with swollen Asian eyes’
‘That’s why we have written a letter to management at Condé Nast about the recent hire of Alexi McCammond as our new editor-in-chief in light of her past racist and homophobic tweets.
‘We’ve heard the concerns of our readers, and we stand with you. In a moment of historically high anti-Asian violence and amid the on-going struggles of the LGBTQ community, 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.’
McCammond has since locked her Twitter account as a number of high-profile right-wing accounts started to attack her.
She apologized to staff in an email on Monday for her ‘offensive, idiotic tweets’.
‘I apologize deeply to all of you for the pain this has caused,’ she wrote. ‘There’s no excuse for language like that.’
Staff are also believed to have express concerns privately to Condé Nast’s CEO Roger Lynch and global chief content officer Anna Wintour, The Daily Beast reports.
About 20 Teen Vogue staffers penned a letter (above) to parent company Conde Naste on Monday after a series of tweets written by McCammond when she was 17 and 18 resurfaced
Teen Vogue staff have publicly slammed their new editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond (pictured) over resurfaced tweets mocking Asian and gay people
Last month, McCammond’s boyfriend TJ Duclo resigned as White House Deputy Press Secretary after he reportedly threatened reporter Tara Palmeri
In a statement, a Condé Nast spokesman said: ‘Alexi McCammond was appointed editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue because of the values, inclusivity and depth she has displayed through her journalism.
‘Throughout her career she has dedicated herself to being a champion for marginalized voices. Two years ago she took responsibility for her social media history and apologized.’
This referenced an incident in 2019 when McCammond also made headlines when she accused former NBA star Charles Barkley of saying to her: ‘I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you.’
He was speaking off the record and later apologized for his comments, but it led to his fans digging through McCammond’s old tweets in a bid to discredit her.
She said at the time: ‘Today I was reminded of some past insensitive tweets, and I am deeply sorry to anyone I offended. I have since deleted those tweets as they do not reflect my views or who I am today.’
Some at Teen Vogue have also reportedly expressed concern over McCammond’s lack of experience, with many existing editors at the magazine believing they are more qualified for the job.
She won praise for her coverage of the Trump White House at Axios and in 2019 was named the emerging journalist of the year by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Last month, McCammond’s boyfriend TJ Ducklo resigned as White House Deputy Press Secretary after he reportedly threatened a reporter who was working on a story about his secret romantic relationship.
Vanity Fair had revealed that Ducklo had made threats – including ‘I will destroy you’ – to Politico correspondent Tara Palmeri, who was reporting a piece about Ducklo’s romance.
An Axios spokeswoman said at the time that McCammond had disclosed her relationship with Ducklo to her editors in November and was reassigned from a beat covering the White House.
At the time, Palmeri had reached out to McCammond to ask her about the romance while one of Palmeri’s male colleagues contacted Ducklo about it.
Ducklo called Palmeri, instead of her male colleague, and made the threats in a bid to kill the story.
Ducklo had allegedly made threats – including ‘I will destroy you’ – to Politico correspondent Tara Palmeri (above), who was planning to report on Ducklo’s romance with McCammond
The White House came under fire at the time for initially only deciding to suspend Ducklo for one week without pay, despite Biden’s vow of a zero-tolerance policy for abusive behavior in his administration. Ducklo later resigned
He told her he would ‘destroy’ her and accused her of being jealous that an unidentified man in the past had ‘wanted to f**k’ McCammond ‘and not you.’
‘I will destroy you,’ Ducklo told Palmeri, sources told the magazine, adding that he would ruin her reputation if the story about his relationship was published.
The White House came under fire at the time for initially only deciding to suspend Ducklo for one week without pay, despite Biden’s vow of a zero-tolerance policy for abusive behavior in his administration.
Journalists heavily criticized the suspension as inadequate, saying it was a signal that reporters were fair game for abuse in the new administration.
In a statement following his resignation, Ducklo said in a statement: ‘It was language that was abhorrent, disrespectful, and unacceptable.
‘I know this was terrible. I know I can’t take it back. But I also know I can learn from it and do better, This incident is not representative of who I am as a person, and I will be determined to earn back the trust of everyone I have let down because of my intolerable actions.
‘I am devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden, and after a discussion with White House communications leadership tonight, I resigned my position and will not be returning from administrative leave.
‘No words can express my regret, my embarrassment, and my disgust for my behavior. I used language that no woman should ever have to hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job.’
The White House later confirmed Ducklo’s resignation, saying in a statement: ‘We accepted the resignation of TJ Ducklo after a discussion with him this evening.’
‘This conversation occurred with the support of the White House Chief of Staff. We are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the President in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility and with a value for others through our words and our actions.’
