A New York Times columnist has been suspended after she made online comments about model Chrissy Teigen and Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo.
Alison Roman, a food columnist for NYT Cooking, sparked backlash after she criticized celebrities who she said have tried to push cooking themes and creations because they’re famous. Roman specifically called out Teigen and Kondo, prompting backlash from the model.
The New York Times said Wednesday that Roman’s column is “on temporary leave,” although it did not specify why, according to The Daily Beast. (RELATED: NYT Reinstates Reporter Suspended For Alleged Sexual Misconduct)
Roman originally said that Teigen’s “successful cookbook” and the fame that followed from it “horrifies” her. She added that “it’s not something that” she would “ever want to do.”
“She [Teigen] had a successful cookbook,” Roman said during the controversial interview with “New Consumer” on May 7. “And then it was like: Boom, line at Target. Boom, now she has an Instagram page that has over a million followers where it’s just, like, people running a content farm for her. That horrifies me, and it’s not something that I ever want to do. I don’t aspire to that. But like, who’s laughing now? Because she’s making a ton of fucking money.”
Roman criticized Kondo for her business model, saying it “is completely antithetical to everything she’s ever taught.”
“Like the idea that when Marie Kondo decided to capitalize on her fame and make stuff that you can buy, that is completely antithetical to everything she’s ever taught you,” Roman said. “I’m like, damn, bitch, you fucking just sold out immediately! Someone’s like ‘you should make stuff,’ and she’s like, ‘okay, slap my name on it, I don’t give a shit!’”
Teigen tweeted about the interview on May 8, writing that is “is a huge bummer and hit me hard.”
“I have made her recipes for years now, bought the cookbooks, supported her on social and praised her in interviews. I even signed on to executive produce the very show she talks about doing in this article,” Teigen wrote.
Roman followed up by issuing an apology to Teigen and Kondo on May 11. She wrote that her comments were “stupid, careless and insensitive” and expressed embarrassment for how she handled the situation.
“Why couldn’t I express myself without tearing someone down?” Roman wrote. “I definitely could have, and I’m embarrassed I didn’t. Among the many uncomfortable things I’ve been processing is the knowledge that my comments were rooted in my own insecurity. My inability to appreciate my own success without comparing myself to and knowing down others – in this case two accomplished women – is something I recognize I most definitely struggle with, and am working to fix. I don’t want to be a person like that.”
I’ve thought a lot this weekend about my interview and the things I said. I know this is a lengthy note (succinctness has never been my strong suit). I appreciate you taking the time to read. pic.twitter.com/3iGAyN3c9d
— alison roman (@alisoneroman) May 11, 2020
Roman’s apology was also posted to Twitter, where Teigen thanked her for the comments. The model wrote that she “just want[s] it to be over” and complimented Roman after a lengthy thread about how the two are alike. Teigen added that she appreciated the note and that she hoped “we can all be better and learn from the dumb shit we have all said and done.”
Roman’s suspension was confirmed after her apology, and Teigen tweeted that she is “not happy with the NYT leave.”
The columnist was supposed to run a piece this week but it was not published, The Daily Beast reported.
The NYT did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.