
Food-writer Alison Roman issued a detailed second apology (her first was a really half-assed apology) on Monday, May 11, 2020, to Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo after dissing their empires a few days prior.
“I used their names disparagingly to try and distinguish myself, which I absolutely do not have an excuse for,” Roman wrote in a statement shared to Twitter on Monday. “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 continued. “The burden is not on them (or anyone else) to teach me, and I’m deeply sorry that my learning came at Chrissy and Marie’s expense.”
Roman also noted that she was embarrassed that she couldn’t express herself without tearing others down. “My comments were rooted in my own insecurity,” she added. “My inability to appreciate my own success without comparing myself to and knocking down others—in this case two accomplished women—is something I recognize I most definitely struggle with, and am working to fix.”
I’ve thought a lot this weekend about my interview and the things I said. I know this is a lengthy note (succinctness has never been my strong suit). I appreciate you taking the time to read. pic.twitter.com/3iGAyN3c9d
— alison roman (@alisoneroman) May 11, 2020
In an interview with New Consumer, republished Thursday, Roman criticized Kondo’s homeware range and called the lifestyle guru a sell-out. “I’m like, damn, bitch, you fucking just sold out immediately!” she said, before then announcing that she was “horrified” by Teigen’s cookware range and Instagram account.
“Like, what Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me. She had a successful cookbook,” Roman said. “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.”
Teigen responded to Roman on Twitter, saying the criticism hit her hard and she hasn’t ever “been so bummed out by the words of a fellow food-lover.” “I have made her recipes for years now, bought the cookbooks, supported her on social [media] and praised her in interviews,” Teigen added. “I even signed on to executive produce the very show she talks about doing in this article.”
Teigen, on Monday night, tweeted an acceptance of the apology.
“The comments stung, but they moreso stung because they came from u!” Teigen wrote. “It wasn’t my usual news break of some random person hating everything about me!”
Teigen then discussed her own journey of coming to terms with not always being able to say what she wants now that she’s in the public eye. “I still think some of those things. I just maybe don’t unleash on my peers on super public platforms lol,” she wrote.
I don’t agree with the pile-on, ppl waiting with bated breath for apologies, deciding if that apology is good, the ppl who say u were right & never needed to in the first place – there are so many different types in this kind of situation & tbh, I just want it to be over
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 12, 2020
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.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 12, 2020
I often comment about how I wish I could get away with what I used to, now, but the truth is, I don’t. I’ve learned a fuckton from my years being watched (& read) and I can really say it makes you a better person! It makes u think about the impact of what u say/who it might hurt
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 12, 2020
And honestly, for the past few days, every time I saw a shallot I wanted to cry, but I do appreciate this and hopefully we can all be better and learn from the dumb shit we have all said and done.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 12, 2020