New editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond leaves Teen Vogue due to past racist tweets

Teen Vogue’s new hire for editor-in-chief, Alexi McCammond, is leaving the publication due to backlash over racist tweets from a decade ago.

McCammond said on Thursday, “My past tweets have overshadowed the work I’ve done to highlight the people and issues I care about  issues that Teen Vogue has worked tirelessly to share with the world  and so Conde Nast and I have decided to part ways.”

Staffers, however, pushed back, saying they were concerned about McCammond’s tweets from 2011 that were racist toward the Asian community. In a letter to top Conde Nast executives, staffers pushed back on her hiring, citing a moment of racist violence against Asian Americans and the ongoing struggles of the LGBTQ+ community.

The racist tweets surfaced in 2019 after she revealed former NBA star and TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley had threatened her, saying, “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” Barkley later apologized.

Earlier this month, Teen Vogue announced the 27-year-old McCammond would be taking over the news outlet, which is often praised for its coverage of social and political issues.

McCammond is a former political reporter for Axios, MSNBC and NBC, was the third Black editor named to run the publication — following Elaine Welteroth and Lindsay Peoples Wagner.