What’s happening with the ‘Teen Vogue’ editor and racist tweets?

Last month, journalist Alexi McCammond was hired to edit Teen Vogue, but on Monday, employees of the publication openly slammed the new editor-in-chief hire over offensive tweets McCammond made in the past that have recently resurfaced. These tweets mocking Asian people were made years ago in 2011, but Teen Vogue staffers strongly believe the hire is not a great reflection for what the company stands for.

Frustrated employees

Last Friday, Teen Vogue announced the official hire of twenty-seven-year-old Alexi McCammond to take over the publication’s role as editor-in-chief. Over the past weekend following McCammond’s hire, though, a series of since-deleted tweets resurfaced to the web. Over twenty employees from Teen Vogue have issued a statement together that they addressed to parent company Condé Nast about the hiring of Alexi McCammond. Lucy Diavolo from the publication tweeted an image that read: “As more than twenty 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. 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. We are hopeful that an internal conversation will prove fruitful in maintaining the integrity granted to us by our audience”, the statement read. The tweets were also shared in a viral post by Diana Tsui, editor at The Infatuation, on Instagram, who wrote: “This especially is a slap in the face given what’s happened to Asian Americans in the past year”, referring to the increase of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. Tsui also added: “I’m tired of big media organizations pretending to give a damn about diversity and inclusion”.

Over twenty staff members signed the letter to Condé Nast leadership. The pressure extended beyond the newsroom. Ulta Beauty paused a planned one-million-dollar advertising campaign with the magazine. Condé Nast agreed that McCammond should part ways to avoid overshadowing the publication’s work. The staff letter and the advertiser pause closed the immediate loop on the appointment.

Racist & homophobic tweets

In 2011, the newly hired editor-in-chief for Teen Vogue tweeted many offensive statements, with plenty that mocked Asian people. One tweet that resurfaced read: “Now googling how to not wake up with swollen, asian eyes…” while another read: “Give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all my work and don’t explain what I did wrong…thanks a lot stupid asian T.A. you’re great”. Another tweet read: “Outdone by Asian #whatsnew”, while another tweet responded to another Twitter user in 2012 calling someone “an old asian woman.. lololol”. McCammond was also exposed for using the words “gay” & “homo” as insults online and also questioned why an article about baseball umpire Dale Scott coming out was deemed “newsworthy”, according to Daily Mail.

The tweets actually first circulated in 2019, when McCammond initially apologized on Twitter. She wrote at the time: “Today I was reminded of some past insensitive tweets, and I am deeply sorry to anyone I offended. I have since deleted those tweets as they do not reflect my views or who I am today”. McCammond apologized publicly in 2019 and again in 2021. She stated the tweets did not reflect her current views and deleted them. She took full responsibility in her resignation statement. Because these tweets have already been found in the past, many further criticized Teen Vogue for making the choice to hire McCammond, with the online fashion industry watchdog Diet Prada writing on Instagram that “a simple google search” would have shown McCammond’s tweets. “You can debate all you want about how reflective some decade-old tweets are of someone in the present, but for a publication as progressive as Teen Vogue, the choice leaves us scratching our heads”. The post questioned: “Were there absolutely no other qualified people?” In a statement by Teen Vogue, the company could only say: “Alexi McCammond was appointed editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue because of the values inclusivity, and depth she has displayed throughout her journalism. Throughout her career she has dedicated herself to being a champion for marginalized voices”.

Advertiser Response and Business Impact

Ulta Beauty’s decision to pause the planned one-million-dollar campaign arrived quickly once the tweets circulated again. The brand had been preparing a spring push tied to beauty and wellness content aimed at the magazine’s core readership. Internal discussions at Condé Nast centered on how the pause would affect revenue projections for the quarter. Several smaller beauty accounts followed the lead and delayed commitments until the matter settled. The episode highlighted how quickly advertiser relationships can shift when a controversy gains traction on social platforms.

McCammond’s Career After Teen Vogue

McCammond resigned before her start date in March 2021. She returned to Axios as a political reporter in July 2021. In August 2023 she joined The Washington Post as an opinion editor. She departed The Washington Post in 2024 after facing criticism for an Instagram post about a former partner. Each move drew renewed attention to the earlier episode at Teen Vogue, yet she continued to secure roles in national political coverage.

Context of Anti-Asian Violence in 2021

Staff statements referenced historically high anti-Asian violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reports from advocacy groups documented a sharp rise in incidents across major cities beginning in 2020. The increase in attacks coincided with public health rhetoric that sometimes singled out Asian communities. The timing of the resurfaced tweets placed additional weight on the staff’s concerns about representation at a moment when readers were already tracking safety issues in their own neighborhoods.

Broader Industry Reactions and Cancel Culture Debate

Former editor Elaine Welteroth publicly condemned the tweets as racist and indefensible. Her comments appeared in interviews that framed the episode as a test of institutional standards at legacy media companies. Some commentary questioned the precedent for holding individuals accountable for teenage social media posts. Others argued that the volume of messages and their tone required a clearer response from leadership. The discussion moved beyond Teen Vogue to examine how newsrooms weigh past statements against current editorial priorities.

The episode left Teen Vogue with a clearer internal process for reviewing new leadership. Staff members continued to publish on social justice topics while the parent company adjusted its vetting steps. McCammond’s subsequent roles showed that career paths in political journalism can resume after public scrutiny, though each step carried reminders of the earlier controversy. Readers followed both the magazine’s coverage and the editor’s later moves, tracking how accountability and opportunity intersect in an industry that prizes visibility.