Claire Saffitz is speaking out.
The 33-year-old chef and frequent star on Bon Appetit‘s popular YouTube channel broke her silence on Thursday (June 11) amid reports of a toxic workplace culture, co-workers of color receiving unequal pay, as well as CEO Adam Rapoport stepping down due to a brownface scandal.
Assistant food editor Sohla El-Waylly wrote that she was not paid for her on-camera appearances. Conde Nast Vice President Matt Duckor, the head of lifestyle video, also left the company amid an internal investigation for failing to include non-white talent in their videos amid resurfaced homophobic and racist tweets.
“I’ve spent the last few days searching for the words to express to my friends and colleagues and also to BA viewers. I sought advice that I decided not to take and deleted drafts because, frankly, most of what white people say right now sounds trite and hollow. I don’t want to repeat platitudes about ‘doing better’ or ‘listening,’ not because the people who say them don’t mean them, but because statements like this don’t matter without sustained and meaningful action,” she wrote.
“As an employee, I was, of course, to some degree aware of the toxic, racist, secretive and ultra-competitive environment we worked in ‘together.’ But I see now that I also missed a lot…my whiteness (but also my class position, educational background, etc.) helped me enter and succeed in a toxic system without having to acknowledge or challenge the system itself.”
“I didn’t ask questions about Sohla‘s or Gaby‘s compensation when I invited them to appear in Gourmet Makes. I didn’t think about Chaey not being compensated for coming to the Thanksgiving episode of Making Perfect,” she went on to say.
“I feel deeply s–tty about this, but I know that my feelings are not important at this moment…I don’t know what my future holds with BA or CNE. Regardless, this week has been a watershed for me in my career and my life. No one needs to take my word for it; I only hope that through sustained learning/unlearning/relearning I can better show up for people who I deeply respect, and eventually earn their respect as an ally.”
See Claire Saffitz‘s full message…
