In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
The #BlackLivesMatter protests in response to the murder of George Floyd have brought brands out of the woodwork to recommit to the ideology of diversity. Among them is Bon Appétit — an American, but globally popular, food magazine that has been called out for a toxic culture that values, and pays, its white contributors more than black and brown people. Oh, and its editor just resigned over a brownface photo. Here’s the tea.
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Variety, American magazine covering entertainment, came under fire for a lack of diverse voices within its newsroom, after journalist Piya Sinha-Roy called our Variety’s current Editor-in-Chief Claudia Eller for penning a performatively woke essay committing to championing diversity.
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Women’s media outlets weren’t safe either. Refinery29 was called out by Khalea Underwood for tokenization of Black people in the newsroom, where she felt her growth was stunted, and where she experienced senior white editors poke fun at the writing of women in color in exclusionary cliques. All the while, R29 was publishing articles that exemplified its wokeness.
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Another one: journalist Prachi Gupta called out Cosmo for actively trying to curb her potential within the company, while benefiting from the reporting she brought to the outlet. When asked for a raise, Gupta says Cosmo editors tried to put her in her place, claiming she should count herself lucky just to work there.
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None of these compare to the scale of shit that Vogue, and its parent company Condé Nast, has attracted amidst diversity concerns brought to the fore amidst #BlackLivesMatter protests. Vogue’s elitism, combined with a half-hearted push toward diversity in recent years — called out by ex-contributors Zara Rahim and Noor Tagouri — are set to permanently mar Anna Wintour’s legacy.
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Next up is popular fashion blog Man Repeller, which was criticized for only pandering to skinny, white and rich cis women, and being tone-deaf about race. Soon after, its founder, Leandra Medine, announced she was stepping back from the website.
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Fashion brand Reformation has also been singled out for catering to only skinny white women, which led its founder Yael Aflalo to take to Instagram with an “I’ve failed” post after many accused her of being racist, and creating unsafe environments for Black staffers.
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Riverdale, the teen mystery show based on characters from Archie Comics, also fielded censure from cast member Vanessa Morgan who accused the creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa of sidelining Black characters in the show.
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This wave of calling out performatively woke brands also reached drug store chains such as Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens, which have been locking up beauty and hair products designed for Black people while leaving those for white people open on the shelves. Their reason has been the locked-up products were more likely to be stolen — a racist ideology that came under a fresh round of fire with the #BlackLivesMatter protests.
