A major advertiser has pulled out of Teen Vogue after the publication hired a new racist Editor-in-Chief, Alexi McCammond.
Ulta Beauty, a fashion retailer, announced on Thursday that it paused all ad spending on Teen Vogue.
“Diversity and inclusion have always been core values at Ulta Beauty,” a spokeswoman for the company said in a statement.
“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.”
McCammond was a political reporter for Axios before she was appointed to the highest position at Teen Vogue.
The 27-year-old new position was met with controversy after “past racist and homophobic tweets” that she deleted in 2019 resurfaced.
“Outdone by Asian,” she wrote in tweet, dated 2011.
“now googling how to not wake up with swollen, asian eyes…” McCammond wrote in another.
“give me 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,” the writer tweeted.
“She was like an old asian woman.. lololol,” she said in another tweet.
Even staff at Teen Vogue expressed their outrage, with over 20 staff members signing a letter to Condé Nast about their decision to hire McCammond.
“As more than 20 members of the staff of Teen Vogue, we’ve built our outlet’s reputation as a voice for justice and change – we take immense pride in our work and in creating an inclusive environment,” the team wrote on Twitter.
“That’s why we have written a letter to management at Condé Nast about the recent hire of Alexi McCammond as our new editor-in-chief in light of her past racist and homophobic tweets.”
“We’ve heard the concerns of our readers, and we stand with you. In a moment of historically high anti-Asian violence and amid the on-going struggles of the LGBTQ community, we as the staff of Teen Vogue fully reject those sentiments.”
The letter ended with staffers hoping “an internal conversation will prove fruitful in maintaining the integrity granted to us by our audience”.
McCammond apologised for her past tweets on social media.
“This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life, in large part because of the intense pain I know my words and announcement have caused so many of you,” she said.
“I am so sorry to have used such hurtful and inexcusable language. At any point in my life, it’s totally unacceptable. I hear that you’re hurt, angry, confused and skeptical of how we move on from here.”
She also said her remarks were “offensive, idiotic” and apologised for “perpetuating stereotypes” of Asian and LGBT+ people.
However, McCammond’s followers did not accept her apology. “NOPE,” one commenter wrote on McCammond’s Instagram apology. The comment garnered 805 likes. “Ummm no,” wrote another, which received 644 likes.
McCammond’s other Instagram posts were also filled with messages telling her to resign and calling her out for racism.
“Oh look! It’s the racist,” wrote one commenter on a picture of McCammond.
In other news, an elderly Asian woman hospitalised her attacker in San Francisco.
A note from teen vogue’s staff pic.twitter.com/oyfhN0mlk8
— Allegra Kirkland (@allegrakirkland) March 8, 2021
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
View this post on Instagram
