What Happened to Bon Appétit?
A rundown of BAâs unraveling has been highly requested. Hereâs what you need to know, through articles and through supplemental details. (This will be updated as changes develop and will be pinned to this blog)
UPDATED AUGUST 15TH, 5:37PM EDT
Priya Krishna, Rick Martinez, and Sohla El-Waylly announced that they are officially ending their video appearances. Since then Molly Baz, Gaby Melian, Carla Lalli Music, and Amiel Stanek have joined them.
Ryan Walker-Hartshorn and Jesse Sparks, the only two Black editorial staff members remaining at Bon Appétit, have now also left.
The Proskauer Rose investigation is complete. Alex Delany and Matt Hunziker have both returned from suspension.
What happened?
It all starts on May 31st, 2020.
Bon Appétit's week from hell: How a deluge of allegations depicting a 'toxic' work culture left the magazine in chaos
The above article details the events from May 31st, 2020 to June 14th, 2020. It is pretty comprehensive, except it doesnât mention that Alex Delaney was actually suspended. This was unconfirmed for a while but we have the confirmation here.Â
Condé Nast has suspended a Bon Appétit video editor amid an internal investigation
The next big event was Matt Hunzikerâs suspension. He was suspended explicitly for negative tweets about how CondĂ© Nast/Bon AppĂ©tit was handling the situation (evidenced in this post). Some of the test kitchen crew voiced their support for him at this revelation, but then were promptly shut down as revealed a month or so later (August 3rd, 2020). This is probably also why the test kitchen seems to have been avoiding discussing it since. It was announced in a memo sent on August 7th, 2020, that he is no longer suspended.
3 Bon Appétit Test Kitchen stars are walking, in a sign that Condé Nast's burgeoning YouTube empire will never be the same
This is a Business Insider article that was locked behind a paywall, so is now on google docs. It sheds light on months of silence, and demonstrates how Condé Nast/Bon Appétit continues to fail the people of color that they employ. As a result, Priya Krishna, Rick Martinez, and Sohla El-Waylly have left (August 6, 2020).
How has Bon Appétit reacted to this? How is Bon Appétit changing?
These are Bon AppĂ©titâs public statements. There have also been a number of administrative changes, including Adam Rapoportâs resignation (June 8th, 2020), Oren Katzeffâs demotion from president of CondĂ© Nast Entertainment (July 31st, 2020), and Sonia Chopraâs introduction as Executive Editor (August 6th, 2020).Â
In June Proskauer Rose (notorious for union-busting) began to conduct an investigation into inequity at Bon AppĂ©tit. Unsurprisingly, in a memo sent on August 7th, 2020, global HR officer Stan Duncan revealed that Proskauer Rose had ânot uncovered evidence that race played a factor in setting compensation for any video team members.â In the same memo itâs revealed that since the investigation is over, both Alex Delany and Matt Hunziker are expected to return from suspension. Here is Alex Delanyâs statement regarding his suspension (posted August 10th, 2020).
According to Priya Krishna, now former test kitchen personality, their claims to work on diversity, inclusion, and equitable pay are âall lip serviceâ (August 6th, 2020).
Where else can I find information?
@tammieetc on Twitter has been investigating.
@joe_rosenthal on Instagram has also been investigating.
What I tend to post here is backed by news articles or directly from the staff involved; these two have real connections in Bon AppĂ©tit that I donât. So sometimes the sources for them are âIâve been told by a BA/CNE stafferâ, and itâs up to you whether you decide to trust that or not.
When will videos come back?
In a memo written global HR officer Stan Duncan, sent Friday, August 7th, 2020, the plan is âfor BA video production to begin in September with some returning talent, in addition to new contributors which weâll be announcing in the coming weekâ. The âcoming weekâ would refer to the week of August 9th through August 15th.Â
Has anyone left?
Priya Krishna, Rick Martinez, and Sohla El-Waylly are officially leaving the video component of Bon Appétit. Read their social media statements here (all were posted August 6th, 2020).
3 of Bon Appétit's Test Kitchen stars of color are departing the video channel after failed contract negotiations
The above article was at one point free, but for some asinine reason got moved to premium, so itâs a google doc now. It details exactly how they were lowballed in contract negotiations.Â
A day after these three announced that they are leaving, Molly Baz and Gaby Melian joined them (August 7th, 2020). Carla Lalli Music announced that sheâs also asked to be released from her video contract days later (August 12th, 2020). Amiel Stanek made a similar statement about asking to leave his video contract about a week after the first three left (August 15th, 2020).
Gaby is going to remain test kitchen manager (as said in her personal statement). Priya, Sohla, Molly, and Carla will definitely continue with the editorial side in some capacity (as evidenced by Rachel Premackâs articles and both Molly and Carlaâs personal statements). Rick might be! The same author says different things across two articles; in one, heâs severing ties. In the other, heâs continuing to freelance.Â
2 Black Staff Members Quit Bon Appétit as Tensions Over Race Continue
Also on August 7th, Ryan Walker-Hartshorn and Jesse Sparks completed their final day of work at Bon AppĂ©tit. Both were editorial staff. You can read more about Ryan Walker-Hartshornâs experience as assistant to the editor in chief here, and can read Jesse Sparksâ full twitter thread of his experience here.
