Olivia Munn is calling on Teen Vogue’s new editor in chief Alexi McCammond to take responsibility for her past “racist” tweets that resurfaced after she was hired Friday.
More than 20 Teen Vogue staff members condemned McCammond’s “past racist and homophobic tweets” in a public Twitter statement Monday, arguing that her hiring doesn’t align with the outlet’s “inclusive environment” amid rising anti-Asian bigotry and violence.
In a tweet from 2011, McCammond, a teen student at the time, wrote: “Now googling how to not wake up with swollen, Asian eyes.” In another, she wrote: “Outdone by Asian.”
McCammond – who formerly covered Joe Biden’s presidential campaign as a politics reporter for Axios – apologized in 2019 when her tweets initially resurfaced after she was named the National Association of Black Journalists’ “Emerging Journalist of the Year.”
“Today, I was reminded of some past insensitive tweets, and I am deeply sorry to anyone I offended,” McCammond, 27, said at the time. “I have since deleted those tweets as they do not reflect my views or who I am today.”
Munn, however, doesn’t think McCammond’s apology went far enough because she failed to acknowledge her past actions as “racist.”
“I think it’s important for people to hear her say that these were racist comments and there’s nothing excusable about,” Munn told NBC News in an interview airing Wednesday. “It would just be nice for her to just say exactly what it is. Call it what it is…it was a racist stupid remark.”
Although Munn said McCammond’s past tweets were “triggering” and “hard to read” after facing similar teasing growing up, the actress believes McCammond “should be judged more on how she’s taking the responsibility today.”
“We’ve all said silly things and she was 17 at the time,” Munn said. “So, I definitely think there is, you know, a lot that we have to kind of give her some grace on for that.”
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Olivia Munn arrives at the 2019 InStyle Awards. (Photo: Steve Granitz, WireImage)
Condé Nast, the media company behind Teen Vogue and Vogue, told the New York Times Monday that McCammond was hired because “of the values, inclusivity and depth she has displayed through her journalism.” The company added that she “took responsibility for her social media history and apologized” two years ago.
McCammond apologized again for her offensive remarks Monday in a note sent to staff members, which was provided to the Times by Condé Nast.
“You’ve seen some offensive, idiotic tweets from when I was a teenager that perpetuated harmful and racist stereotypes about Asian Americans,” she wrote. “I apologized for them years ago, but I want to be clear today: I apologize deeply to all of you for the pain this has caused. There’s no excuse for language like that.”
USA TODAY reached out to Condé Nast for comment.
McCammond starts her new role at Teen Vogue on March 24.
This is not the first time McCammond has been in the news recently. White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo resigned in February after he was suspended for threatening a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with McCammond.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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