Teen Vogue editor, 27, resigns over racist tweets she wrote as a teenager
Teen Vogue editor, 27, resigns over anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager after Conde Nast lost a seven-figure ad campaign over her appointment: Anna Wintour KNEW about racist tweets but still hired her 13 days ago
- Alexi McCammond, 27, wrote several anti-Asian tweets when she was a teenager
- She deleted them before she was named as editor of Teen Vogue
- Earlier this month, the tweets surfaced after 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
Teen Vogue’s new editor Alexi McCammond has resigned less than two weeks after taking the job over anti-Asian tweets she wrote as a teenager which surfaced online and cost Conde Nast a seven-figure ad campaign.
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.’
They were written in 2011 and resurfaced after she was named as the new editor on March 5. It’s unclear if she ever started the job.
In an email to staff on Thursday, 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.
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
‘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.
Staffers were irate that she was allowed to keep her job after the tweets surfaced, and said it sent the wrong message during a time of increased attacks on American Asians but she stayed on.
They wrote an open letter demanding that she be replaced and also complained directly to 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.
In a Twitter statement on Thursday, McCammond said she and the company had decided to ‘part ways’.
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
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.
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 11.
‘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.