The first time I ever heard of Alison Roman, it was because approximately half of the internet decided to direct their quarantine-fueled rage toward her for two slightly bitter-sounding remarks in an interview with the New Consumer.
Roman, a chef who parlayed high-power gigs into cooking stardom, had commented on the increasing commercialization of cooking by taking aim at Chrissy Teigen, the supermodel celebutante chef, and Marie Kondo, the premier lifestyle guru championing organizational minimalism.
“Like, what Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me,” Roman said of Teigen. “She had a successful cookbook. And then, it was like: Boom, line at Target. Boom, now she has an Instagram page that has over a million followers where it’s just, like, people running a content farm for her. That horrifies me, and it’s not something that I ever want to do. I don’t aspire to that. But, like, who’s laughing now? Because she’s making a ton of f—ing money.”
As for Kondo, Roman had unleashed a profanity-laced diatribe, which I’ve toned down with edits: “Like the idea that when Marie Kondo decided to capitalize on her fame and make stuff that you can buy, that is completely antithetical to everything she’s ever taught you … I’m like, damn, [she] just sold out immediately!” Roman said. “Someone’s like ‘you should make stuff,’ and she’s, like, ‘OK, slap my name on it …'”
In a vacuum, these quotes sound childishly bitter. In the context of the question, which specifically asked Roman about the difference between consumption and pollution, clearly beckoning her for a comment about superfluous consumerism, they sound a little off-color and perhaps rude.
The correct follow-up to the interview would have been to get Roman, a self-made up-and-comer still new to the celebrity chef game, to maybe apologize. Instead, an internet pile-on ensued, charging Roman not just with jealousy and a tad of unprofessionalism but with outright racism, because Teigen’s mother is Thai and Kondo is Japanese.
After hundreds of thousands of people mobbed Roman with charges of racism, the national news media pounced on the story, turning Roman from a charmingly relatable Insta-chef into some sinister racist secretly planning to “colonize spices.”
To make matters worse, Teigen, who’s famously married to musician and actor John Legend, decided to tweet her condemnation of Roman to her nearly 13 million followers. For reference, Roman has about 72,000.
I started cravings because I wanted something for myself. I wanted something John didn’t buy, I wanted something to do that calmed me, made me happy and made others happy, too. Cravings isn’t a “machine” or “farmed content” – it’s me and 2 other women.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 8, 2020
to see that thing in my hand being used by people around the world makes me so happy. Watching a company grow makes me happy. I get joy from it and lots of people do.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 8, 2020
I don’t think I’ve ever been so bummed out by the words of a fellow food-lover. I just had no idea I was perceived that way, by her especially. And Marie, too. Marie is awesome.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 8, 2020
there are many days I cry very hard because cravings, the site, is our baby we love to pump content onto. we do this work ourselves, and there is NO monetary gain yet. it is just work work work and the reward is you liking it. so to be called a sellout….hooooo it hurts
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 8, 2020
Dismayed fans responded to this by digging up old tweets of Teigen attacking children and bragging about forcing her maid to clean dog poop, which at least reined Teigen in somewhat. But the damage was done.
Roman wound up issuing two apologies. The mob came for her, and now, she is on temporary leave from the New York Times. After all, it is a business, and it is afraid of losing subscribers and advertisers over such a nasty little spat involving its staff.
The blame doesn’t fall to the New York Times for making a business decision. It falls on the mob and the celebrities who now regret punching down.
I hope we can laugh about it one day but I’m not happy with the NYT leave so she def can’t laugh about it yet. It just sucks in every way.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 20, 2020
Spare us the surprise. As a millionaire celebrity with a pop legend husband, it’s totally warranted to cut off professional ties or ice out a lesser competitor until an apology comes her way for a moment of pettiness. It’s entirely another to send an outrage mob of 13 million followers against someone so much smaller. You all tried to get Alison Roman canceled. Just admit it. You won, at least temporarily, but don’t deny your responsibility for destroying a woman’s career.
