Incoming Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief Alexi McCammond resigned on Thursday, only a few days ahead of her start date and less than two weeks since she was announced to take over the role.
McCammond said in a tweet that she and Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast have “decided to part ways,” after past racist tweets of McCammond’s resurfaced, sparking a backlash over her appointment from both employees inside the company and on social media.
“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,” McCammond said on Twitter.
Her resignation comes after major advertisers paused spending at the magazine, citing concern over McCammond’s past tweets, which included harmful Asian American stereotypes and homophobia. The Daily Beast reported that retailer Ulta Beauty had paused a “seven-figure” ad campaign in the magazine amid the controversy.
According to Mediaite, Condé Nast shared the news of McCammond’s resignation to the company in an internal email on Thursday.
“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,” said Chief People Officer Stan Duncan in an internal memo.
Most recently a political reporter for Axios, the 27-year-old journalist has covered Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and is also a frequent contributor on NBC and MSNBC. While she worked as a News Editor for Bustle and as a reporter for Hearst-owned Cosmopolitan, McCammond has had no fashion editing experience.
On March 8, after it was publicly revealed that McCammond would step into the role, members of the Teen Vogue staff released a public statement on Twitter, stating they raised concerns to Condé Nast management over McCammond’s decades-old racist tweets directed toward Asian Americans.
“We’ve heard the concerns of our readers, and we stand with you,” the statement reads. “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. We are hopeful that an internal conversation will prove fruitful in maintaining the integrity granted to us by our audience.”
Condé Nast has not yet said who will fill the Editor-in-Chief role.
