Incoming Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond has resigned following public backlash over her past racist tweets about Asian people.
“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 Conde Nast and I have decided to part ways,” McCammond wrote in a statement shared on Thursday. “I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that.”
In a separate email, Stan Duncan, Condé Nast’s chief people officer, told staff that McCammond agreed on Thursday morning to “part ways” with the company.
“We were hopeful that Alexi would become part of our team to provide perspective and insight that is underrepresented throughout 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,” Duncan wrote. “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.”
Duncan also said that during the hiring process, McCammond had been “straightforward and transparent” about the “racially charged statements on social media about Asian people” that she had made as a teenager.
“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,” Duncan said.
McCammond, a former political reporter for Axios, was supposed to begin as Teen Vogue’s top editor next Wednesday, March 24.
Condé Nast first announced McCammond’s hiring on March 5. That weekend, racist tweets she had written about Asian people in 2011 were resurfaced on social media, leading to public pushback from Teen Vogue staff members and celebrities like Olivia Munn and Daniel Dae Kim.
“Now googling how to not wake up with swollen, asian eyes…” McCammond wrote in one of the tweets.
“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,” she wrote in another.
By March 8, more than 20 Teen Vogue staff members issued public statements on social media condemning McCammond’s “past racist and homophobic tweets.” At least two major advertisers, Ulta Beauty and Burt’s Bees, suspended their campaigns with Teen Vogue in light of McCammond’s tweets.
McCammond, who had last apologized for her tweets in 2019, apologized again in separate emails and statements to Teen Vogue’s staff and readers but, as of last week, indicated that she was not intending on stepping down.
Read McCammond’s full statement here and in the tweet below.
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
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