Some of you may know of the drama behind Condé Nast/Bon Appétit that blew up a few months ago and resulted in various social media posts, break from YouTube content, resignation of eight of the BA test kitchen members/staff, and more. Today, they resumed their YouTube content and posted three videos today. The first video is about BA’s new leadership team of, surprise surprise, Black and South Asian people. The second video is a “___ makes ___” of Chris Morocco, a member of the BA test kitchen who decided to stay with BA, and who was aware of the way his POC co-workers were treated prior to the drama yet did not speak up or out for them (Chris has not always been my favorite, although his brown butter cookies are bomb). The third video featured a new BA video host, Chrissy Tracey, who is a vegan chef specializing in comfort food! Though the first video about the new leadership group gives off “I have black friends” vibes (stated by user RitabTajj that I couldn’t agree with more), Chrissy’s feature seems somewhat promising. I wonder who else they have added to their video team and if they’re being compensated properly now.
Here are some links about BA’s blow up and to Chrissy’s video:
https://www.insider.com/bon-apptit-timeline-allegations-drama-culture-race-andy-alex-sohla-2020-6
Thank you for the article. I follow another food recipe channel called Babish Culinary Universe and saw that a chef that used to work with BA, Sohla El-Waylly, now has a series on there. However, I didn’t know why she left until now. I pretty much agree with your thoughts on BA’s reaction. While’s it’s great that there are now editors and advisors of color, that introduction video seems to apply that just hiring those people is the company’s apology. They literally danced around the controversy, just mentioning that they were going to create a respectful environment where people can ask “uncomfortable questions”. And just a glance at the comments of that video shows that the “apology” was not very effective.
Yeah, Sohla’s new content on Andrew’s (Babish) channel is great! She was one of my favorites on BA but she barely got any videos so I didn’t really get to really see her shine like Claire and Sohla’s other white co-workers did. Just watching her new videos makes me feel angry about her experience at BA because she’s so creative and talented…
Hi Leadora,
I actually saw this yesterday and was debating about how I felt. It’s almost as if they just decided to brazenly put their staff of color in front of the camera and “parade” them but I also don’t want to speak for those they are representing. However, I am not saying that this is negative at all simply because if they are choosing to put representation on the screen for the wrong reasons, that should be fine. We are providing opportunities for others to follow them and the individuals they chose certainly are qualified as are many others. So if they chose purely based off of a racial agenda, that’s awful but a decision we should analyze as a step towards representation.
I agree with you. I’m not sure how I would feel if I were given the opportunity to be a part of BA’s new leadership team as a POC. On one hand, I’d most likely take up the position because I might be able to lead BA onto a new path of change. But, I might also think, “are they just reaching out to me because I’m an Asian woman and they need one?” or something like that. Maybe I’m just weary of BA’s decisions now based on what’s happened in the past and that nothing has happened until a couple of months ago… I also think stuff like this about hiring is a common struggle among most predominantly white work environments, though. The representation is there but I wonder how BA has changed and will continue to change.
Hi Leah! So glad you posted about this! And yes, it seems that only time will tell how Chrissy’s talent will be used, compensated, capitalized, recognized, etc.,…
And yes to Leah’s comment! So so so happy Sohla is with Babish, it seems her genius is really being treasured over there 🙂
Thanks for sharing this YouTube series! It’s sardonic that every industry, including food shows, are falling into the trappings of having been “woken up” following this summer’s events, hiring more BIPOCs in leadership/team positions and whatnot. It’s really frustrating how double-sided and unsustainable the industry hiring effort seems, and like many have already said, we’ll have to watch and wait to see how everything goes. We’re ever the critical onlookers.