The incoming editor in chief of Teen Vogue announced that she would resign over backlash over decade-old tweets she posted as a teenager just a week before she was set to start the job, The New York Times reports.
Alexi McCammond, a prominent political reporter at Axios, said she would not take the job she was appointed to just two weeks ago.
“My past tweets have overshadowed the work I’ve done to highlight the people and issues I care about -- issued that Teen Vogue has worked tirelessly to share with the world -- and so Conde Nast and I have decided to part ways.”
McCammond, who has repeatedly apologized over anti-Asian and homophobic tweets she posted in high school, said that she “should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that.”
Move comes after pressure:
McCammond stepped down after backlash from the magazine’s staff and at least two advertisers.
“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,” Conde Nast executive Stan Duncan said in an email to employees.
More than 20 staffers posted a note on social media saying they complained to the company about the years-old tweets, which included derogatory comments about Asian people’s appearance and anti-gay slurs.
Ulta Beauty and Burt’s Bees also suspended their ad campaigns with the magazine.
Journalists defend McCammond:
“The staff of Teen Vogue successfully blocked an extremely well qualified Black woman from becoming its next editor in chief over tweets from when she was a teen that she apologized for years ago,” wrote The Intercept’s Ryan Grim.
“I’ve worked with @alexi for four years,” said former Axios colleague Jonathan Swan. “I know her well and can say this unequivocally: The idea she is racist is absurd. Where the hell are we as an industry if we cannot accept a person’s sincere and repeated apologies for tweets when they were a teenager?”
“Who the fuck would wanna work at teen Vogue after that?” questioned The Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng.
