Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour admits to ‘hurtful and intolerant’ behavior

Vogue Editor-in-Chief Dame Anna Wintour has admitted to letting ‘hurtful and intolerant behavior’ go unchecked during her 32-year reign at the fashion magazine, as well as not doing enough to champion black staffers and designers.

The admissions came as part of a company-wide memo Wintour authored to her staff last Thursday amid nationwide unrest and protests calling for racial equality, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day.

‘I want to start by acknowledging your feelings and expressing my empathy towards what so many of you are going through: sadness, hurt, and anger too,’ Wintour began.

‘I want to say this especially to the Black members of our team — I can only imagine what these days have been like. But I also know that the hurt, and violence, and injustice we’re seeing and talking about have been around for a long time. Recognizing it and doing something about it is overdue.’

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First reported by Page Six, the note was sent out to staffers three days before Adam Rapoport, the editor-in-chief another Conde Nast publication, Bon Appetit, resigned from his post after a photo surfaced of him in brownface, exacerbating a race-based controversy regarding pay equity in the outlet’s video department.

‘I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators ,’ Wintour, who’s also Condé Nast’s artistic director, continued. 

‘We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes.

‘It can’t be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue, and there are too few of you. I know that it is not enough to say we will do better, but we will — and please know that I value your voices and responses as we move forward. I am listening and would like to hear your feedback and your advice if you would like to share either.

‘I am proud of the content we have published on our site over these past few days but I also know that there is much more work to do. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me directly. I am arranging ways we can discuss these issues together candidly, but in the meantime, I welcome your thoughts or reactions.’

André Leon Talley, a former editor-at-large for the publication and former close friend of Wintour, has painted a scathing picture of the famously icy doyenne, insisting in his upcoming memoir that she is ‘not capable of human kindness’.

Talley says he has ‘huge emotional and psychological scars’ from his decades long friendship with Wintour, which he claims came to a tumultuous end when she allegedly severed ties with him because he’d become ‘too old, too overweight and too uncool’.

Talley claims there is an ‘endless’ list of writers, stylists and models who she has cast onto a ‘frayed and tattered heap during her powerful rule’.

He also said she failed to thank him for writing an op-ed for the Washington Post praising her September 2018 cover featuring Beyoncé as culturally significant for the black community.

‘Not one quick email from Anna Wintour,’ he wrote. ‘Editors I’ve worked with for decades didn’t understand the immense importance of this occasion simply because they are not capable of understanding. None of my contemporaries have seen the world through black eyes.’

Wintour’s long-held reputation for having an icy demeanor has earned her the nickname ‘Nuclear Wintour’.  

But addressing her staff last Thursday, Wintour tried to assure Vogue workers that she is listening and learning from past mistakes now.

‘This is a historic and heartbreaking moment for our country and it should be a time of listening, reflection, and humility for those of us in positions of privilege and authority. It should also be a time of action and commitments,’ she wrote.

‘On a corporate level, work is being done to support organizations in a real way. These actions will be announced as soon as possible.’

In 2019 Wintour said there was ‘much more of an awareness of inclusivity and diversity’ in the fashion industry, ‘not only in terms of race but also in terms of body positivity and health’. 

‘I think that we are seeing a lot of change, I don’t think maybe as much as everybody would like but it’s definitely moving in the right direction,’ she said at the time.  

While the extent of the corporate shake-up at Conde Nast is yet to be seen, Adam Rapoport, the long-time editor in chief of Bon Appétit magazine, resigned Monday hours after a photograph showing him in brownface surfaced online.

The image in question was originally posted on Instagram by Rapoport’s wife Simone Shubuck in 2013, and shows the couple dressed up as derogatory Puerto Rican stereotypes at an apparent Halloween costume party in 2004.

‘Me and my papi,’ Shubuck had captioned the image, followed by the hashtag ‘boricua’, a term often used by Puerto Ricans to identify themselves. 

The photo prompted widespread backlash and led to dozens of current and former Bon Appétit staffers calling for Rapoport to step down. 

In a statement posted to his Instagram page on Monday evening, Rapoport confirmed he would indeed resign from his post, saying he will now take time to ‘reflect on the work that I need to do as a human being and to allow Bon Appétit to get to a better place’.

Rapoport also conceded that he hadn’t ‘championed an inclusive vision’ during his 10 years in charge at the magazine, which has come ‘at the expense of Bon Appétit and its staff, as well as our readers’.

‘They all deserve better,’ Rapoport continued. ‘The staff has been working hard to evolve the brand in a positive, more diverse direction. I will do all I can to support that work, but I am not the one to lead the work. I am deeply sorry for my failings and to the position in which I put the editors of BA. Thank you.’

Anti-racism protests have been raging in America for more than two weeks since Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. 

Floyd, an unarmed black man, was pinned down on the neck for nearly nine minutes by a white police officer despite his pleas that he could not breathe. 

After footage of the arrest came to light, the Minneapolis police officers were fired and the cop kneeling on Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder. 

Days of Black Lives Matter protests led to looting in many cities, prompting a combative response from President Trump who threatened to send troops. 

Wintour recently took aim at Trump for his bizarre suggestion that people could be injected with cleaning products to treat coronavirus. 

‘I think we’ve all gotten past the idea that life will simply snap back to normal. Except our president, who thinks we should try drinking disinfectant mixed with sunshine. To which I say, you first,’ she said.