#Ulta pauses ad campaign over Alexi McCammond tweet controversy

Problems continue to mount for Conde Nast as cosmetics giant Ulta Beauty slams the brakes on a Teen Vogue ad campaign over offensive tweets by the mag’s newly tapped editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond.

“Diversity and inclusion are core values at Ulta Beauty—and always have been,” a spokesperson for the makeup seller told the Daily Beast, which broke the story. “Our current spend with Teen Vogue is paused as we work with Condé Nast to evaluate the situation and determine next steps regarding our partnership.”

Conde Nast announced last Friday it hired McCammond, 27, to head Teen Vogue. A rising star political reporter at Axios, McCammond, who is black, was initially seen as a win for Conde’s own diversity push.

But it’s only led to controversy over tweets from her college days mocking Asians, including one that made fun of Asian eyes and another that blasted a teacher’s assistant for being “stupid” and Asian.

“Give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don’t explain what i did wrong…thanks a lot stupid asian T.A. you’re great,” McCammond wrote.

In another, she tweeted, “Outdone by Asian #whatsnew.”

The since deleted tweets led to a letter Monday from a group of more than 20 Teen Vogue staffers expressing concerns to management. On Wednesday, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) weighed in, calling on Condé “to ensure its commitment to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and employees.” 

McCammond, who isn’t slated to start in the new job until March 24, has tweeted a lengthy apology over her “hurtful and inexcusable language.”

But unless the controversy dies down, the hit to Conde’s bottom line could be steep. Ulta, a $7.4 billion cosmetics and skin care giant, was reportedly prepared to spend seven figures advertising in Teen Vogue.

Conde and Ulta Beauty, which has weathered its own controversies about diversity in the past, did not return calls or emails seeking further comment.

This isn’t McCammond’s first time in the spotlight. In 2019 she scored an apology from Charles Barkley for allegedly telling her during an off-the-record conversation about politics: “I don’t hit women, but if I did, I would hit you,”

She made headlines more recently when her boyfriend T. J. Ducklo, a Biden press aide, unleashed a tirade against a reporter investigating the affair. “I will destroy you,” Ducklo reportedly hissed at Politico reporter Tara Palmeri. 

McCammond deleted the tweets two years ago and issued a short apology. But they were unearthed again following and posted on Instagram by journalist Diane Tsui.

“In a moment of historically high anti Asian violence … we as the staff of Teen Vogue fully reject those sentiments,” the Teen Vogue staffers wrote in their letter to management, which stopped short of calling in Conde Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour to rescind the offer. “We are hopeful that an internal conversation will prove fruitful in maintaining the integrity granted to us by our audience.”

“I’ve apologized for my past racist and homophobic tweets and will reiterate that there’s no excuse for perpetuating those awful stereotypes in any way,”

McCammond issued a profuse apology on Wednesday.

“I’m sorry to have used such hurtful and inexcusable language,” McCammond said in an instragram post that she addressed to the “teen vogue community,” McCammond wrote in her apology Wednesday. “At any point in my life, it’s totally unacceptable.”