After facing weeks of negative press for tweets against Asians from 2011 when she was 17-years old, Alexi McCammond, 27, resigned as the incoming editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue. She had not yet started.
These bigoted tweets from @Alexi are disgusting! Yuck!
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) March 8, 2021
The fact @TeenVogue hired this racist at a time when Asian-American hate crimes are on the rise speaks volumes to their lack of respect for the community. pic.twitter.com/ALn8Qucdya
The tweets were shared by journalist Diane Tsui over Instagram, who has continued to use the social media platform to address the controversy surrounding McCammond.
McCammond herself announced the decision on Thursday afternoon, implying she may be concerned about her future in journalism. The last line of the tweeted statement read "I hope to have the opportunity to rejoin the ranks of tireless journalists who are shining light on the issues that matter every single day."
Hey there: I’ve decided to part ways with Condé Nast. Here is my statement about why - pic.twitter.com/YmnHVtZSce
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) March 18, 2021
Just before McCammond's tweet, the Daily Beast reporters Max Tani and Lachlan Cartwright published their article detailing "Teen Vogue’s New Top Editor Out After Backlash Over Old Racist Tweets." The two have written about McCammond throughout this time period.
Tani and Cartwright's piece reports that:
And in an email to staff from Stan Duncan, forwarded by Condé Nast to The Daily Beast, the company’s chief people officer wrote that “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.”
Multiple people familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that Condé management called a meeting with staffers for Thursday afternoon to discuss the new editor’s exit.
McCammond had apologized for the tweets before Thursday's apology in announcing she would not start as Teen Vogue's new editor-in-chief, after all.
I hope you'll read this note from me to the @TeenVogue community, staff, readers, writers, photographers, content creators, and friends: https://t.co/ROoovqQHLX pic.twitter.com/85T8XBJULn
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) March 11, 2021
Reporting indicates that she had the support from publisher Condé Nast, at least at first:
Despite the outcry, the magazine publisher itself initially stood by McCammond. According to multiple people with knowledge of the situation, Condé Nast was aware of the tweets before McCammond was hired and questioned her about the old posts. The company initially defended McCammond in a series of statements to reporters, and published a public apology and statement on Teen Vogue’s Instagram account.
Ultimately, though, the left still went after their own. Teen Vogue employees were some of those critical of McCammond, including publicly.
A note from Teen Vogue's staff: pic.twitter.com/prPhlhh2oV
— ???????? ?????????????? (@SatansJacuzzi) March 8, 2021
with alt text: pic.twitter.com/vorzoJ5ezF
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Also, as the Daily Beast explains, with added emphasis:
People familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that McCammond met one-on-one individually with staff to apologize and discuss moving forward. Internal reaction was mixed: Some staff who spoke with The Daily Beast remained apprehensive, while others felt McCammond was appropriately remorseful for posts that she made when she was a teenager.
Another very public outcry came from Ulta Beauty, which mentioned that they "paused" a seven-figure ad deal with the outlet, almost certainly contributed to McCammond's downfall.
This is not the first time McCammond has been in the news recently. As Townhall previously reported:
McCammond's latest woes come after her relationship with former White House press secretary T.J. Ducklo while she was a reporter at Axios resulted in Ducklo threatening a female reporter at Politico for inquiring about the relationship. The phone call, in which Ducklo lobbed personal insults, resulted in him resigning from his post after his behavior was revealed.
The White House did not take action against Ducklo until the story broke and initially gave him a one-week, unpaid suspension, which went against President Joe Biden's promise to fire those who exhibited such behavior.
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