Alexi McCammond has decided to part ways with Condé Nast, less than two weeks after the publisher announced it had hired her to replace Lindsay Peoples Wagner as Teen Vogue‘s editor-in-chief and less than a week before she was set to start the job. The former political writer’s exit follows internal upset over her “past racist and homophobic tweets,” especially amid a rise in violence and harassment against the AAPI community.
“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 Condé Nast and I have decided to part ways,” McCammond’s wrote in a statement announcing her departure. “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.”
In an email to the Condé Nast staff tweeted out by the Daily Beast’s Max Tani, the company’s HR Chief Stan Duncan wrote: “Alexi was straightforward and transparent about these posts during her interview process and through public apologies years ago.”
“Given her previous acknowledgement of these posts and her sincere apologies, in addition to her remarkable work in journalism elevating the voices of our marginalized communities, we were looking forward to welcoming her our community,” the email continued. “We were hopeful that Alexi would become part of our team to provide perspective and insight that is underrepresented throughout the 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.”
McCammond’s offensive tweets started to resurface a few days after she was announced as Teen Vogue’s new leader. (They had previously circulated a few years ago, and were subsequently deleted.) This prompted more than 20 staff members at the publication to post a note on social media declaring that they had made a complaint to the management at Condé Nast regarding her hire. According to The New York Times, the mounting criticism surrounding McCammond’s hire caused two of the magazine’s major advertisers to suspend their campaigns with the publication.
Duncan concluded his email to the staff by saying that after speaking with McCammond on Thursday morning, they agreed that “it was best to part ways, so as to not overshadow the work happening at Teen Vogue.”
Similarly, McCammond ended her resignation statement by wishing the Teen Vogue team well. “Their work has never been more important, and I will be rooting for them,” McCammond wrote. “There are so many stories left to be told, especially those about marginalized communities and the issues affecting them.”
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