Chrissy Teigen reflected on once being a “snarky girl” after Alison Roman apologized for attacking her

Update, May 12th, 2020, 11:15 a.m. ET: Alison Roman penned a lengthy apology to Chrissy Teigen for her “tone-deaf” comments about her fellow cookbook author. Soon after, Teigen responded in a series of tweets, comparing her earlier self to Roman and getting real about how the remarks affected her.

“I’ve thought a lot this weekend about my interview and the things I said,” Roman wrote on Twitter on May 11th, attaching two pictures with a typed “formal” apology note.

In the note, Roman wrote, “I need to formally apologize to Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo. I used their names disparagingly to try and distinguish myself, which I absolutely do not have an excuse for. It was stupid, careless, and insensitive. I need to learn, and respect, the difference between being unfiltered and honest vs. being uneducated and flippant.”

She went on to say both Teigen and Marie Kondo (who she also called out in her original remarks) worked “extremely hard” to get where they were. (Duh.) Her apology also addressed her privilege as a white woman in the industry who called out two Asian-American women.

For her part, Teigen posted a thoughtful response to Roman’s apology, coming back to Twitter after her brief break amid the drama. She started by thanking Roman for her apology, but she pivoted to compare her own mistakes in the spotlight to Roman’s decision to criticize her in the press, specifically.

“I think we are alike in so many ways. I remember the exact time I realized I wasn’t allowed to say whatever popped in my head—that I couldn’t just say things in the way that so many of my friends were saying,” Teigen wrote, adding, “Eventually, I realized that once the relatable ‘snarky girl who didn’t care’ became a pretty successful cookbook author and had more power in the industry, I couldn’t just say whatever the fuck I wanted. The more we grow, the more we get those wakeup calls.”

“Oh! but how I still think some of those things,” Teigen wrote. “I just maybe don’t unleash on my peers on super public platforms lol.”

Though she said that she wanted to cry every time she saw a shallot in the past few days, she does seem to appreciate and accept Roman’s apology. Hopefully, this incident can help more people learn that cutting down other women won’t make you rise higher.

Original post, May 11th, 2020: Chrissy Teigen has been our Twitter queen for years, because she never fails to make us laugh or keep it real when it comes to dealing with social media trolls. But it seems she’s taking a break from the platform as a result some drama with a fellow cookbook author. Allow us to explain.

In an interview with New Consumer published on Thursday, May 7th, popular food columnist Alison Roman called Teigen out for having a “successful cookbook” and a cookware line at Target, accusing her of “running a content farm.” Roman added, “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 also accused Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo of “[capitalizing] on her fame” with a product line.

The social media backlash to Roman’s comments was swift, especially given that she was specifically targeting two women of color.

Teigen addressed Roman’s comments on Twitter the next day, writing, “This is a huge bummer and hit me hard.” She noted that she was a supporter of Roman’s and was even supposed to be working with her on a TV show.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAArZf9DvU_

Teigen, a two-time cookbook author, shared a thread expressing her thoughts and showing her support for Kondo, explaining, “I didn’t ‘sell out’ by making my dreams come true. To have a cookware line, to get to be a part of that process start to finish, to see something go from sketch to in my hands, I love that.”

For her part, Roman apologized to Teigen on Twitter, hoping to clarify her statements that she was “not coming for anyone who’s successful, especially not women.” She added, “My business model does not include a product line, which work very well for some, but I don’t see working for me.”

https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1258840368893886465

While plenty of people came to Teigen’s defense, some used the opportunity to share some of the star’s resurfaced problematic tweets and make racist comments towards her, which seemingly prompted Teigen to make her Twitter account private and share that she’s taking a “little break.”

“This is what always happens,” she tweeted on May 10th. “The first day, a ton of support, then the next, 1 million reasons as to why you deserved this. It never fails,” she wrote, adding, “I really hate what this drama has caused this week.”

The added attention, Teigen tweeted, “seems gross to me so I’m gonna take a little break.”

Of course, we totally understand why she wants to step away from Twitter for a bit, and we don’t blame her for doing so. And the whole exchange serves as a reminder that words do matter, whether on social media or in interviews. Twitter take-downs are never a good look.

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