Photographer claims Teen Vogue editor hire shows Condé Nast ‘do not value’ Asian community

The comments from photographer Yu Tsai come as new Teen Vogue editor stands down due to anti-Asian tweets

(Getty Images for Politicon)

A photographer who has previously worked for Teen Vogue claims Condé Nast does not “value” the Asian community after hiring an editor who previously posted anti-Asian tweets.

Alexi McCammond was announced as the Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue earlier this month, but stepped down shortly after following backlash to resurfaced tweets she wrote in 2011.

The tweets had been reported before, and Vogue editor and global chief content officer for Condé Nast, Anna Wintour, is believed to have known about them before offering McCammond the position.

According to a report in The Guardian, fashion and celebrity photographer Yu Tsai who has worked with Teen Vogue before, now says this incident shows how the company values the Asian community.

Tsai commented on McCammond’s hiring, saying: “I think Condé Nast must have thought the Asian community would remain silent about this matter. [But] our community will not take social injustice and racism silently.

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“Condé Nast knew about these tweets but they still offered the job to McCammond,” Tsai said. “This tells me that [they] didn’t value their Asian community.”

McCammond has previously apologised for the racist remarks in a statement, writing: “I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that.”

At 27 years of age, McCammond would have been one of the youngest editors-in-chief in the history of Condé Nast.

The situation comes at a poignant time for the Asian-American community as the US has seen a marked increase in Asian-American hate over the last year.

This week, eight people, including six Asian women were murdered by a gunman in Atlanta, Georgia in an attack that many believe was racially motivated.

The Independent has contacted Condé Nast for comment.