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Alexi McCammond fired from Teen Vogue: What were the anti-Asian and 'homophobic' tweets that led to her exit?

'Now googling how to not wake up with swollen, asian eyes', the soon-to-be editor of Teen Vogue had written in a post around 10 years ago

Condé Nast and its newly appointed editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, Alexi McCammond are going separate ways. Condé Nast, which publishes Teen Vogue, announced the move on Thursday, after McCammond's anti-Asian and homophobic tweets, which she had posted a decade ago resurfaced earlier this month. 
 
“After speaking with Alexi this morning, we agreed that it was best to part ways, so as to not overshadow the important work happening at Teen Vogue,” a company spokesperson wrote in an internal email in a by the Guardian report. “It’s fair to say that Alexi McCammond’s appointment with Teen Vogue brought many difficult and important conversations to the forefront over the last few weeks.

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The former political reporter for Axios was due to start as the editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue on 24 March, succeeding former EIC Lindsay Peoples Wagner, and having been appointed to the role a few weeks earlier. She would have been the third black woman to serve as Teen Vogue's top editor.

McCammond, 27, resigned over anti-Asian racist tweets she wrote several years ago during her teens. “Now googling how to not wake up with swollen, asian eyes…” McCammond, who is Black, wrote in one of the tweets, posted when she was in college. “Give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don’t explain what i did wrong...thanks a lot stupid asian T.A. you’re great,” read another.

The tweets prompted 20 of the magazine’s editorial staff to write to Condé Nast questioning McCammond’s appointment at a time when anti-Asian hate crime was on the rise. During the pandemic, 3,800 incidents of hate crime were reported. On Wednesday, six Asian-American women were killed in shootings in Atlanta, Georgia. Police yet to confirm if the shootings were racially motivated.

McCammond said in a Twitter statement thart her "past tweets have overshadowed the work I've done to highlight the people and issues that I care about". "I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that," she added.

The editor had previously apologized for the tweets when they first resurfaced in 2019. Again, she apologized earlier this month, both in public statements and in internal memos to her new colleagues. “You’ve seen some offensive, idiotic tweets from when I was a teenager that perpetuated harmful and racist stereotypes about Asian Americans. I apologized for them years ago, but I want to be clear today: I apologize deeply to all of you for the pain this has caused,” she wrote in a note addressed to Teen Vogue staff.

“There’s no excuse for language like that. I am determined to use the lessons I’ve learned as a journalist to advocate for a more diverse and equitable world. Those tweets aren’t who I am, but I understand that I have lost some of your trust, and will work doubly hard to earn it back. I want you to know I am committed to amplifying AAPI voices across our platforms, and building upon the groundbreaking, inclusive work this title is known for the world over,"she concluded.