Inside Teen Vogue debacle: Anna Wintour tried to save new editor who apologized personally to staff
Inside Teen Vogue debacle: Anna Wintour tried to save new editor who met staff to personally ask them to forgive her for racist tweets sent as a teen while HR begged them not to fight in public
- Alexi McCammond, 27, wrote several anti-Asian tweets in 2011, as a teenager
- She deleted them in 2019 and this year was named as editor of Teen Vogue
- On Thursday she resigned, despite efforts by Anna Wintour to save her
- McCammond also spoke to Teen Vogue staff to explain her actions
- The tweets resurfaced earlier this month in connection with her boyfriend
- DJ Tucklo was fired as Deputy White House Press Secretary
- He’d threatened to ‘destroy’ a female reporter if she revealed his relationship with McCammond, who was an Axios reporter before working at Teen Vogue
- McCammond’s resurfaced tweets include one in which she wrote: ‘Googling how to not wake up with swollen Asian eyes’
- In another, she spoke of her ‘stupid Asian’ teaching assistant, complaining that she did not receive help with chemistry homework
- She apologized earlier this month then Ulta pulled a multi-million dollar deal with Teen Vogue
- There were also talks at high levels of Conde Nast that the scandal would drive down sales
- News of her departure triggered mix reactions – some said it was high time whereas other in the media said it was cancel culture gone too far
Anna Wintour tried to save the incoming editor of Teen Vogue, Alexi McCammond, it has been revealed – but could not stop her from being forced out less than two weeks after taking the job.
McCammond, 27, was fired over anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager, in 2011, which surfaced online and cost Conde Nast a seven-figure ad campaign.
McCammond’s resurfaced tweets 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.’
Wintour, the chief content officer and the global editorial director of Vogue, was aware of the decade-old racist tweets and discussed them with leaders of color at Condé Nast before the job was offered, The New York Times reported.
Teen Vogue editor Alexi McCammond has resigned over racist, anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager surfaced online. It emerged on Thursday that Conde Nast boss Anna Wintour knew about the tweets but gave McCammond the job anyway
They felt she had learnt from her mistakes, but they were not aware of homophobic tweets or a photo, also from 2011, that was recently published by a right-wing website showing her in Native American costume at a Halloween party. The vetting process did not turn up the additional material because it had been deleted, the executive added.
Wintour tried to build support for the would-be Teen Vogue editor, the paper said, and included her in team meetings.
McCammond met one-on-one with staff, to try and ease their concerns, and explained her actions in a note.
‘You’ve seen some offensive, idiotic tweets from when I was a teenager that perpetuated harmful and racist stereotypes about Asian Americans,’ she wrote in a note to her new colleagues, obtained by The Daily Beast.
‘I apologized for them years ago, but I want to be clear today: I apologize deeply to all of you for the pain this has caused.’
Condé Nast’s human resources department also met with the Teen Vogue staff, and the staff were reminded of a company policy requiring them to check with the communications team before making public statements.
The staff members were also told they should keep their criticisms ‘in the family’ – further adding to their anger.
On Monday a meeting, scheduled for Wednesday with Wintour and top Vogue executives, was abruptly canceled and not rescheduled, indicating to McCammond that her position was no longer tenable.
The Daily Beast reported that Condé Nast management called a meeting with staffers for Thursday afternoon to discuss the new editor’s exit.
The offensive tweets were deleted in 2019, when McCammond was working as a political reporter for Axios.
They resurfaced after she was named as the new editor on March 5.
It’s unclear if she ever started the job.
On March 9, the tweets had gone viral and she was apologizing for them.
Conde Nast initially stood by her and allowed her to keep the position.
Staffers were irate that she was allowed to keep her job and said it sent the wrong message during a time of increased attacks on Asian Americans, but she stayed on.
They also complained that she was inexperienced, having never worked as an editor or manager before, and that there were other black women within Conde Nast who would have been better suited to the job.
They wrote an open letter demanding that she be replaced and also complained directly to CEO Robert Lynch.
Beauty store chain Ulta then pulled a seven-figure ad campaign with Teen Vogue over the scandal. There were also talks among sales teams that it could cost the company even more in advertising revenues.
It has also emerged that in an email to staff around the same time Conde Nast HR boss Stan Duncan revealed that Anna Wintour and CEO Roger Lynch knew about the decade-old racist tweets but hired her anyway.
On Thursday, McCammond tweeted that she and the company were ‘parting ways’.
It sparked a mixed reaction – some said it was appropriate given what she’d done but others called it cancel culture gone too far. They criticized Conde Nast for seemingly hanging her out to dry.
‘I want to be fully transparent with you about our decision-making process regarding her appointment.
‘When Alexi was was a teenager she made racially charged statements on social media about Asian people.
‘Alexi was straight forward and transparent about these posts during our interview process and through public apologies,’ HR boss Stan Duncan said in an internal memo.
‘Given her previous acknowledgement of these posts and her sincere apologies, in addition to her remarkable work in journalism elevating the voices of marginalized communities, we were looking forward to welcoming her into our community.
‘In addition, we were hopeful that Alexi would become part of our team to provide perspective and insight that is underrepresented throughout the media.
‘We were dedicated to making her successful in this role and spent time working with her, our company leadership and the Teen Vogue team to find the best path forward.
‘To that end, after speaking with Alexi this morning, we agreed that it was best to part ways, so as to not overshadow the important work happening at Teen Vogue,’ he went on.
In a Twitter statement on Thursday, McCammond said she and the company had decided to ‘part ways’.
McCammond’s resignation also comes after her boyfriend was fired from his role as Deputy White House Secretary for threatening to ‘destroy’ a female reporter if they exposed their relationship.
Before working at Vogue, McCammond was working as a political reporter at Axios.
McCammond is dating disgraced former Deputy White House Secretary TJ Ducklo who was fired after threatening to destroy a reporter if she exposed their relationship. Before working at Vogue, McCammond worked at Axios
On Thursday, amid a swell of outrage over anti-Asian violence after a gunman killed six Asian women at three massage parlors in Georgia, she said: ‘Hey there: I’ve decided to part ways with Condé Nast.’
‘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 so tirelessly to share with the world – and so Conde Nast an I have decided to part ways.
‘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 in the years to come as both a person and as a professional,’ she said.
McCammond issued a lengthy apology on March 9.
‘What an awful introduction we’ve had to each other this week.
‘This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life in large part because of the intense pain I know my words and my announcement have caused so many of you.
‘I’ve apologized for my past racist and homophobic tweets and will reiterate that there’s no excuse for perpetuating those awful stereotypes in any way,’ she said.
The tweets were all written in 2011, when she was in high school, long before she took a job in journalism.
Before Axios, she also worked at MSNBC.
Originally after the tweets surfaced, she called them ‘idiotic’ and ‘offensive’ but not racist.
She then came under pressure to acknowledge that they are racist from stars including Olivia Munn.
On March 11, Ulta halted advertising with Teen Vogue.
‘Diversity and inclusion have always been core values at Ulta Beauty.
‘We stand against racism in all forms and as we’ve publicly shared in our social channels, we stand in unity with the AAPI community.
‘We believe it’s important that our partners share our values.
‘Our discussions with Conde Nast are actively underway as we seek to better understand their next steps and determine ours,’ the beauty brand said in a statement.