Edition
Food writer Alison Roman (center) is facing backlash for the way she critiqued the businesses of Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo.Jerod Harris/Getty Images; Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images ; Seth Wenig/AP
Fans of Alison Roman may know her as the creator of a chocolate chip shortbread cookie recipe that took over Instagram, or for her popular cookbooks "Dining In" and "Nothing Fancy."
The food writer is no stranger to going viral for one of her appetizing yet approachable kitchen creations.
Since Friday, though, Roman has been a trending name online due to a recent interview with The New Consumer, in which she appeared to bash the business philosophies of home organizing expert Marie Kondo and "Cravings" author and creator Chrissy Teigen. Keep reading to see how the saga unfolded.
Read the original article on Insider"I want to clarify, I am not coming for anyone who's successful, especially not women," Roman tweeted on Friday. "I was trying to clarify that my business model does not include a product line, which work very well for some, but I don't see working for me."
Several of Roman's fans and critics seem to agree that there's nothing wrong with having different business priorities or even being critical of mass consumerism. However, Roman's comments sparked outrage along with who she targeted.
A number of Twitter users were upset seeing Roman single out two women of color, Marie Kondo and Chrissy Teigen, while not criticizing famous white women who have also created wide-spanning lifestyle brands, like Gwenyth Paltrow's Goop wellness empire.
Writer and social commentator Roxane Gay summed up the divisive nature of Roman's interview in a tweet, saying, "I like Alison Roman's recipes. I really like Chrissy Teigen and her various endeavors. That interview included some terrible takes. It's lousy that women of color were the target of her disdain when this is a space dominated by white women. I mean come on."
Gay continued, touching on the harsh reality of cancel culture: "That said, some of y'all wait for the your favs to make a mistake so you can let loose. Maybe we could just admit we don't like everyone and create an environment where that isn't a moral failing and not just wait for convenient opportunities."
—alison roman (@alisoneroman) May 9, 2020
"I sent an email but also wanted to say here that I'm genuinely sorry I caused you pain with what I said," Roman wrote, tagging Teigen on Twitter. "I shouldn't have used you /your business (or Marie's!) as an example to show what I wanted for my own career- it was flippant, careless and I'm so sorry."
Roman continued in another tweet, saying: "Being a woman who takes down other women is absolutely not my thing and don't think it's yours, either (I obviously failed to effectively communicate that). I hope we can meet one day, I think we'd probably get along."
Roman did not appear to tweet a direct public apology to Marie Kondo, who also has a public account on Twitter, along with her brand, KonMari.
Representatives for Roman, Teigen, and Marie Kondo did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Teigen wrote on Twitter that she started her "Cravings" cookbook and accompanying brand because she wanted to start something for herself.
"I wanted something John didn't buy, I wanted something to do that calmed me, made me happy and made others happy, too. Cravings isn't a 'machine' or 'farmed content' - it's me and 2 other women," Teigen wrote.
"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," Teigen continued.
The "Cravings" writer shared her sentiments in a series of follow-up tweets.
"I don't think I've ever been so bummed out by the words of a fellow food-lover. I just had no idea I was perceived that way, by her especially. And Marie, too. Marie is awesome," Teigen wrote.
She continued: "It has been crappy to deal with this all day but I couldn't not say something. I know the actual tears I put into the work I do and it's really hard to see someone try to completely invalidate it. Someone I really liked."
Teigen also claimed that the "Cravings" website has yet to garner any monetary gain — "It is just work, work, work, and the reward is you liking it," she wrote."This 'farm' you think of doesn't exist. I am the farm. I am the cows the horses the pigs."
—chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 8, 2020
On Friday evening, Teigen shared an article from Page Six recapping Roman's interview.
"This is a huge bummer and hit me hard," Teigen wrote. "I have made her recipes for years now, bought the cookbooks, supported her on social and praised her in interviews. I even signed on to executive produce the very show she talks about doing in this article."
"Like, what Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me," Roman said in the interview. "She had a successful cookbook. 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. 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 f------ money."
"I'm more interested in expanding myself as a writer. My next book is going to be narrative nonfiction — essays and short stories and stuff," Roman added.
The interview continued with Roman saying that she enjoys cooking "because you're making something, but it goes away."
"Like the idea that when Marie Kondo decided to capitalize on her fame and make stuff that you can buy, that is completely antithetical to everything she's ever taught you… I'm like, damn, b----, you f------ just sold out immediately! Someone's like 'you should make stuff,' and she's like, 'okay, slap my name on it, I don't give a s---!'" Roman said.
She continued: "That's the thing — you don't need a ton of equipment in your kitchen to make great food," Roman said. 'For the low, low price of $19.99, please buy my cutting board!' Like, no. Find the stuff that you love and buy it. Support businesses and makers. It feels greedy. Unless something just simply didn't exist that I wish existed, but that would make an inventor, which I'm not."
The New Consumer, a website described as "a new publication covering the intersection of technology and consumer brands" created by Dan Frommer, published an interview with Roman on Thursday called "What Alison Roman wants."
The focus of the interview seemed to be on Roman's next step in building her brand.
"Roman, 34, has emerged as one of the most interesting and visible people in the food media world, at a time when cooking at home has unexpectedly taken over our lives," Frommer's article began.
"And she's now at a crossroads: How to build a bigger business without selling out?" Frommer continued in The New Consumer.
Roman, who has sold her first TV show, said in the article that turning her brand into a lifestyle line with a variety of products related to cooking, home, and style, may not be something she's interested in.
"I'd rather stay small and always be myself," Roman said. "But at the same time, I do need to figure out how to turn this into money."
In a February 2019 article published in Vox, writer Nisha Chittal wrote that the popularity of Roman, her recipes, and her style of cooking was "proof that millennials are embracing home cooking."
In a November 2019 article from the New Yorker, Michele Moses described the devout fans who have glommed onto Roman's cooking and the unique target audience of her recipes, videos, and social media content.
Roman's cooking, Moses wrote, focuses on fat-heavy ingredients and accents "such as anchovies and preserved lemon, that are briny, tangy, funky, and polarizing."
"Part of the appeal is her grasp of her audience: the financially unsteady millennial generation, which has turned "nothing fancy" into an aesthetic choice," Moses wrote.
The 34-year-old writes a bi-weekly column for the New York Times' cooking section, and authored two cookbooks, "Dining In," published in 2017, and "Nothing Fancy," her second book, released in 2019.
The food writer is perhaps best known for her recipes that have garnered social media fame — including "The Stew" and "The Cookies," which are her Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread cookies — which have led to a cult-like following of the cook's concoctions.