I’d warned Wintour about race row editor
Disgraced Teen Vogue chief’s predecessor did not want firm to hire her
THE former editor of Teen Vogue had warned the magazine’s publishers about racist tweets posted by her successor, it was claimed last night.
lindsay Peoples Wagner is said to have raised concerns about social media messages sent by Alexi Mccammond, who was forced to quit shortly after her appointment as editor-in- chief amid an outcry over the offensive tweets.
Miss Mccammond, 27, was given the role by Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour despite conde Nast – the magazine’s publisher – being aware of the messages her protege had put online years earlier.
She was supposed to start at the digital magazine last month but resigned before her first day in the job as staff, readers and advertisers revolted over the messages from 2011.
yesterday it was claimed Miss Wagner had warned conde Nast that Miss Mccammond’s old tweets could resurface.
The former editor- in- chief, who had been in role since 2018, is said to have contacted former staff to warn them about Miss Mccammond – and told them she had not put her on her list of proposed successors.
According to reports in an American newspaper, staff at Teen Vogue aired their concerns at a meeting with Dame Anna but felt ‘blindsided’ when Miss Mccammond appeared in the meeting over camera. Staff members later sought to distance themselves from Miss Mccammond, writing in a joint statement: ‘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.’
Miss Mccammond subsequently apologised to staff in an email and set up one- on- one meetings aimed at clearing the air. However, staff remained frustrated over conde Nast’s handling of the fiasco and the vetting process that led to Miss Mccammond’s appointment.
The publisher’s HR boss Stan Duncan told staff the company was aware of her tweets from 2011 when they hired her, but thought she had learned from her mistakes. After a public outcry, which saw cosmetics company Ulta Beauty deciding to ‘pause’ a seven-figure advertising campaign with Vogue, Miss Mccammond said she was ‘parting ways’ with conde Nast.
The latest revelations in the Washington Post raise questions over why the job was ever given to Miss Mccammond.
It comes after an article on American Vogue’s website last month asserted that the use of the word ‘niggling’ in a Daily Mail headline regarding the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex’s engagement was racist. Despite the word having been used numerous times in Vogue itself, and thousands of times in the British Press over the years, writer Hamish Bowles saw fit to criticise its use on a 2017 front page.
The Mail wrote to conde Nast asking it to correct its ‘extremely serious and unfounded allegation’ of racism but the publisher refused. Miss Mccammond’s tweets resurfaced after she was named as the new editor of Teen Vogue on March 5. In one, when she was 17, she wrote she was ‘Googling how to not wake up with swollen Asian eyes’.
other tweets used the terms ‘Asian’, ‘ homo’ and ‘gay’ in derogatory ways. conde Nast did not respond to requests for comment about the claims.
Editor of Teen Vogue quits in racism storm
From the Mail, March 19