Conde Nast’s problem isn’t racism. It’s irrelevance in the face of better competition

Published August 7, 2020 1:00pm ET



The epic tantrum over at Bon Appetit is just the latest woe proving that Conde Nast is in crisis. The mass media giant, which is reportedly looking to bow out of its hard-earned One World Trade Center lease, is once again facing cries of racism, the reason cited vaguely by three of Bon Appetit’s video contributors, all nonwhite, who have quit.

Priya Krishna claimed that she didn’t receive fair pay and that “non-white members of the test kitchen were tokenized, carelessly framed as monolithic experts for their communities, used as props for white talent, and not given equal opportunities to be featured.” Rick Martinez similarly alleged that he would not get a “fair pay rate” or a “comparable number of appearances” to his colleagues. Sohla El-Waylly didn’t allege any particular conduct but said producing Bon Appetit videos was “just not the right thing” for her. All of this comes after Adam Rapoport was ousted in June over a photo of him in brownface from the Halloween of 2004.

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