Alison Roman's New York Times column is being put on hiatus after the food writer's explosive drama with Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo
- The Daily Beast reported on May 19 that bi-weekly food columnist Alison Roman's New York Times column was "on temporary leave."
- Roman was recently implicated in a feud with Chrissy Teigen after making disparaging remarks about both Teigen and Marie Kondo in an interview with The New Consumer.
- Roman has since posted a lengthy apology for her remarks, calling them "stupid, careless, and insensitive."
Alison Roman's New York Times column is "on temporary leave" following recent remarks the buzzy food writer made about Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo, a spokesperson for The New York Times confirmed to The Daily Beast on May 19.
Previously, Roman published recipes bi-weekly in the paper, and is arguably best known for viral recipes like "The Stew" and her recent shallot pasta dish that has been making the rounds online. The Daily Beast reported that insiders at The Times said that Roman was scheduled to have a column run the week of the controversy, but it was ultimately not published.
In May, Roman drew attention and internet ire for comments that she made in an interview with The New Consumer. In the interview, Roman called out both Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo by name as examples of brand directions she doesn't want to pursue.
"Like, what Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me," Roman told The New Consumer. "She had a successful cookbook. 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 f------ money."
Roman criticized Kondo for the irony she saw in marketing products that she believed ran counter to Kondo's core philosophy of getting rid of things. In her criticism, she also appeared to use a put-on accent which she later said was an "inside joke."
The comments set off a flood of criticism online, with people pointing out that she had chosen to explicitly criticize two women of color, as opposed to white women like Gwyneth Paltrow who had also created broad lifestyle brands like Goop. The commentary built on previous criticism of Roman's recipes, which many say build on foods from other cultures without giving credit.
Chrissy Teigen later responded to Roman's comments, writing on Twitter, "this is a huge bummer and hit me hard," revealing that she was a fan of hers, and had actually planned to produce Roman's forthcoming television show. Teigen also refuted aspects of Roman's criticism, writing that her brand "isn't a 'machine' or 'farmed content' - it's me and 2 other women."
Roman initially apologized on May 8, a day after the interview was published, saying that the comparison she made was "flippant [and] careless." On May 11, she posted a lengthy apology to Twitter, calling her remarks "stupid, careless, and insensitive." Teigen responded, thanking Roman but saying that it "never once crossed my mind for u to apologize for what you genuinely thought!"
- Read more:
- Food writer Alison Roman has apologized after criticizing Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo in an interview. Here's how the drama unfolded.
- Food writer Alison Roman posts lengthy apology for 'flippant' remarks about Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo
- Chrissy Teigen slammed body shamers who criticized her after she posted a video in a swimsuit