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Updates for the uninformed on Bon Appétit/Condé Nast gate, I intend this to be the most accurate retelling of events that exists:
It all started when Sohla discovered/revealed that only the white actors were being paid for appearing in videos https://www.eonline.com/news/1159430/bon-appetit-s-sohla-el-waylly-says-only-white-editors-are-paid-for-test-kitchen-videos
It all started when Sohla discovered/revealed that only the white actors were being paid for appearing in videos https://www.eonline.com/news/1159430/bon-appetit-s-sohla-el-waylly-says-only-white-editors-are-paid-for-test-kitchen-videos
That inspired other staffers and former staffers to come forward and share their stories: https://www.businessinsider.com/bon-appetit-adam-rapoport-toxic-racism-culture-2020-6
That AND what was initially thought to be vindicative detective work by free lance wine blogger Tammie Teclemariam. Shes just a crusader for social justice they said. OK:
So at this point of the story we end up with two white men in positions of power, Matt Duckor and Adam Rapoport, who controlled the video content so beloved by millions, unmasked as systemic racist power brokers. Both resign within 3 days of the Business Insider story coming out
Tammie must be thrilled you'd think. She found the photo that damned the editor and chief of a major food publication. Well, actually, she was more concerned about not getting enough credit
As a drinks blogger and a woman of color, Tammie set her sights on someone she feels is unqualified and probably took a job away from someone like her, BA Drinks Editor Alex Delany
Delany is a different animal in this. Aside from the title, there has been no indication in anything that has come out from BA staffers that implicated him in abusing the limited power he had. Tammie doesn't like him and alerted the world he had a confederate flag on his tumblr
A childhood friend moved to South Carolina so he and his friends baked her a cake. This post is from 2010. He was 17 at that time. 10 years ago. You are lying if you say that things haven't changed in 10 years with regard to that flag. NASCAR only banned them yesterday actually
Once this broke Alex immediately took to Instagram to apologize:
Before anyone could breathe, another food writer from Eater, Elazar Sontag was inspired by this to go through Alex's vine and found this: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBOl6ShFoyw/?igshid=k008epkbgmck
I will let that video speak for itself. Its hard to listen to. In the nicest of contexts its a joke made in horrible taste. The harshest interpretation is that Alex is a closet homophobe who hates gay people and everything else is a front. Thats what Elazar wants you to think
Date of the offensive vine video is March 2013. 7+ years ago. Alex was 20 and in college.
He took to twitter immediately to apologize:
At this point of the story we have a serious issue: Conflation of systemic racism and the offensiveness of immaturity. Rapoport and Ducker have people from BA on record with examples of decisions they made that are racist. Delany said dumb shit in high school and college.
Most people can see the difference between the two. But Tammie and *woke* twitter can't
Woke twitter now awakens in our story and has another conclusion. Misogynist:
Now that the floodgates are open and people are actively looking 7+ years back, it seems Alex got advice to delete his accounts. Panic move, but if you put yourself in the shoes of someone who is scared and has been posting on social media forever, I get it.
Let's check on our friend, Tammie. What does she have for us now? Nothing much. Just some conspiratorial type stuff
What does she want from this anyway? (I already gave the game away before). Its entirely to raise her own profile. She could give a shit about social justice
Idk how I missed this one. Tweeted out the day before anything 'surfaced'
We are living in a time of unprecedented social unrest. Between the pandemic and police brutality protests, there should be more emphasis to support local restaurants ESPECIALLY black-owned restaurants. Alex Delany used his platform to promote these businesses (check his insta)
Its also a time of FINALLY standing up to systemic racism and police brutality. Alex has used his platform to raise money for Black Lives Matter, protestor bailout funds, the NAACP, and the ACLU.
Go check Tammies Twitter feed. She RARELY spoke about these issues. Sure there's a couple about George Floyd. A few retweets of videos. But she really doesn't say a whole lot about systemic racism. At all.
She isn't a hero. She doesn't care about injustice - Only things that can benefit her personally. And to any current or future colleagues of hers, she will step on you to get ahead. Keep her out of your organization or watch your back.
I will not forgive Alex Delany for what he did and said. But anyone suggesting he is just as guilty as Rapoport or Duckor for underpaying Sohla and keeping other POC out of videos is completely full of shit. You dont have to like him, but be honest about your criticism
His actions thus far have shown me a few things:
1) he was a jackass in college
2) while he wasn't aware of the systemic racism, he did benefit from it
3) Since becoming a public figure he has used his platforms responsibly
4) he never 'scrubbed' anything from social media
1) he was a jackass in college
2) while he wasn't aware of the systemic racism, he did benefit from it
3) Since becoming a public figure he has used his platforms responsibly
4) he never 'scrubbed' anything from social media
The tally is now at 1 'racist' cake. 1 disgusting vine. 8 tweets that appear to be poor taste jokes. All 7+ years old. Should BA have found that stuff? Probably. Has he done anything while in their employ that is grounds for termination? Nothing that has come out
I will wait for all the facts before I offer a detailed 'termination' opinion. Tammie wanted him fired before she even found the cake - just because she didn't like him. That matters. Intent matters. Harming people matters.
Contrary to popular belief, BA people don't make a ton of money despite the popularity of the videos (especially the BIPOC we have found out). They all started mainly working for the magazine, and journalism is not a lush job in this country anymore.
Tammie believes someone should be canceled just because she feels more qualified. That's the tweet. He's not the reason you didn't get that job, Tammie, it was their HR department. Clearly, you are proving yourself to be someone who doesn't work well with others
Everyone is entitled to disagree, but you don't demand management cancel someone because their taste is different than yours. You can unfollow them, dislike the videos, stop watching them, stop reading the posts. Thats the free market at work. Tammie disagrees. #freealexdelany
Idk what her deal is but she's making it easier and easier to understand her actual intention. #delanygate
The hits keep rolling out. More unsourced character assassination. Her followers are eating it up
It appears she is now gearing up to accuse someone of an unsourced rape (she deleted the tweet because this is literally evidence that could be used against her in a defamation lawsuit)
She will scrub her Twitter at some point. Apologies to anyone who hates redundancy, but I need to keep documenting this. Its actually astonishing how personally she dislikes him.
Or she can keep tweeting? Sure. Keep em coming, Tammie.
Seems she's trying to build a cultural appropriation case against him in the court of public opinion, as well
And they don't stop coming
We got the context covered. You got it
Is the irony lost on anyone else that the person actively trying to cancel Alex Delany out of pure spite is concerned about erasure?
(Youd only care about not getting the credit if you were trying to elevate your profile)
Apparently, its 'misogyny' that another powerful white person caught propagating systemic racism would be fired before someone who didn't abuse their power?
She doesn't even hide it. Anyone who lionizes this person as a hero clearly does not see the world objectively. Its astounding. She really thinks Alex Delany is some robot programmed to take opportunities away from her. She must cancel him and attain the fame she is entitled to
I can objectively say that Alex Delany did more to promote black rights and black businesses than you did, Tammie.And if someone thought Alex being fired meant they would also leave in solidarity, it kills your narrative that your unmasked kid who baked a cake at 17 was a cancer.
I dont believe this information is public domain (public record) (I will delete this tweet if I find it somewhere else), but if I'm right and it isn't, Brad Leone you are now entitled to get in on the inevitable defamation lawsuit.
She has recanted her unsourced brad leone smear, but has yet to delete the original tweet
She phrased the first tweet like extortion to make a joke. (Good one, Tam) and then the punchline reveal is that he actually isn't the filthy rich white kid, who will just fall upwards into a trust fund safety net once he's canceled, shes been telling us he is.
PLOT TWIST: her sources are disagreeing about what was said about Brad Leone, so she has deleted her recant and decided one is right and one is wrong instead of presenting the conflicting points of view. I envy her sense of objectivity
More #journalism
So this is what I would call textbook 'Buzzfeed Journalism', if its real its a bad look for Brad Leone, but Tammie took it from a source who has no idea where it came from, and she rushed to tweet it out before confirming its validity
(note that she did nothing to help protect the identity of the source who gave it to her. But is that really surprising to anyone at this point) its all about Michelle Obama and sponsorships, money and glory wooooooooooooooooo
Brad Leone has posted an apology to instagram. He directly refutes Tammies claim that he is defending racist and homophobic behaviors. (A previously deleted version of this tweet said he tweeted it, apologies)
Pretty good thread from former BA photographer Alex Lau, 4 days old now but implicates higher ups at Condé Nast https://twitter.com/iamnotalexlau/status/1270038290645897219?s=19
Tweet from Vincent Cross who most people probably know from the 'Vin' name drops on 'It's Alive'. He created that show then left the company. I assumed it was because Andrew Rea of Binging With Babish fame hired him away, but apparently there was more https://twitter.com/VINCENT_CROSS/status/1270098620948209664?s=19
The Molly Baz Apology (from her instagram)
The Claire Saffitz apology (from instagram)
2 days old now, but if you haven't seen Christina Chaey's post, it is very brave. She publicly outs Duckor and if she's saying it publicly id bet she was a big reason he's out now. (Part 1 of 2)
(Part 2 of 2)
So where do we go from here? There are definitely other powerful people at Condé Nast who probably should have a reckoning. It remains to be seen if that will happen.
And of the beloved Bon Appétit Test Kitchen Video Family? Seems they are having numerous internal meetings and mostly keeping silent aside from apologies here and there. A good journalist would be trying to see if they are coordinating with a PR firm or legal counsel
That brings me to hopefully my final point until we have new information: there are very few competent journalists writing in the food space. Sure, there are good food writers, good opinion sharers, but very few people who we can trust to give us objective news. More soon
One person I have not gone after was Elazar Sontag. The Eater journalist who found the Alex Delany vine video. I sourced his Instagram above. Well TIL he deleted the post. Alex's vine is gone and he entrusted the video to the internet. There are doctored versions floating around
I cant believe I have to explain journalism to writers, but Elazar, you seem like an honest person, you cant delete that information after you upload it. I understand it was offensive to you, but now people don't have your primary source. They might see a doctored video.
If people see a doctored video which makes Alex Delanys look comments even worse than they appear, thats now your responsibility. I know its offensive, but you are credited in many news outlets as finding that video and they all link to your Instagram. #journalism
I missed Amiel Stanek's statement/apology from 2 days ago. He worked at the company longer than most and was an assistant to Rapoport. He def saw some shit. Its 10 pictures long and I dont feel like screenshotting them, so here is the instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTBd0TjuTu/?igshid=vb1ng2wfn67a
If you have read this whole thread, you are aware that Tammie Teclemariam is not a qualified journalist. She may be a good wine writer, but that's a subjective issue. She has posted loads of unsourced information and rumors while parading around as a journalist. Elazar disagrees
There are some vitriolic people out there trying to trace this account back to Alex Delany. I am not Alex, nor am I affiliated with Alex. If any in the press would like to contact me to confirm this, I am happy to confirm this on the condition you protect my anonymity.
Clearly my media criticism has created enemies who are on a crusade of destruction and my anonymity keeps me safe. Sorry to the bitch ass haters of woke twitter
andy baraghani statement from his instagram (part 1 of 2):
Statement (part 2 of 2). His statement is interesting to me because he was directly called out for going right to the editors of the magazine to kill a coworkers story. He doesn't really address that. Just promises to do better
Here is Alyse Whitney's brave thread where she tells her story (and implicates Andy). I didn't originally include Alyse's thread because some of it is in that business insider story, but that is behind a paywall so here ya go: https://twitter.com/AlyseWhitney/status/1270571312591917061?s=19
Andy in this part of his statement confirms something I've rambled on about. Video came on very quickly at BA. The test kitchen quickly changed from a place to test recipes for the magazine to a video studio. Almost all of the test kitchen stars were making magazine salaries
So apparently the Alex Delany slander will no longer be coming from the account we all now know and love. If notable things happen wrt Bon Appétit I will provide updates.Kinda silly to stop now because she already tweeted a lot of nonsense out, this classic has yet to be deleted
Updated statement from former BA photographer Alex Lau
Update from interim Editor in Chief, Amanda Shapiro. Mostly common sense, nothing groundbreaking. If you were expecting big announcements you will be very underwhelmed. https://twitter.com/bonappetit/status/1272670788106309632?s=19
*Al Pacino voice* justtttt when I thought I was outt she pulls me back in. This is how jOuRnaLiSM is done people. You tweet out an unsourced smear on Brad Leone looking for confirmation. Imagine how bad this will be when she gets a blue check
@CiaoSamin remember when you used your platform to give recognition, validation, and drive followers to this person? Any comment? Is this stuff good for your brand?
One thing thats bothered me about the Tammie/BA stuff is someone who slanders Brad Leone for being pro-gun because he prefers hunting to factory farming clearly doesn't care about animals at all. She's used her instagram to joke about killing turtles and dosing pigeons (1/2)
Why even post this stuff to instagram? I know the reputation of pigeons in New York, but wtf?
Speaking of 'why would anyone post this stuff to instagram', ***graphic content warning*** for anyone not good with blood
For the uninformed, video editor of 'Its Alive', Matt Hunziker, has been suspended and the company is investigating him. For what? Who knows.If you follow his instagram he has been very outspoken regarding social justice.Could be a retaliation tactic - tbd https://www.businessinsider.com/conde-nast-suspends-bon-appetit-video-editor-2020-6?amp&__twitter_impression=true
Our shame on you of the day goes to @priyakrishna, who is normalizing grifters like Tammie who claim to fight systemic issues but with prejudice and vitriol. She continues to smear Brad Leone who worked his way up from a dishwasher at BA and got to where he is after 9 years
Imagine socializing with someone who spoke so negatively about your coworkers? Sounds pretty terrible. Though if you have followed the New York Times they dont tend to employ high character people anymore (other than liz bruenig). Any comment @priyakrishna?
I will finish this thread with this: if it wasnt transparent enough that Tammie was jealous of the Bon App test kitchen, here are a series of tweets from months before she 'broke' the Rapaport brown face picture.
