Several staff members and freelance contributors — including those featured on Bon Appétit's YouTube channel — have called for the resignation of Adam Rapoport, the editor-in-chief, after a photo of him in brownface circulated on social media.
In a post to her Instagram story, Sohla El-Waylly — who is an assistant food editor at Bon Appétit and featured heavily on their YouTube channel — has also revealed that only white editors are paid for their video appearances.
She continued this by saying she had been "pushed in front of video as a display of diversity", when in reality "none of the people of colour [had] been compensated".
Hawa Hassan has also spoken up, highlighting that she was only paid $400 per video and hasn't worked with the magazine since October 2019.
Other staff members, like Claire Saffitz, have been vocal in their support of El-Waylly and have said that they will not shoot new videos for Bon Appétit until change happens.
Fans of the popular YouTube channel and magazine are outraged and have said that they will be boycotting videos until BIPOC members of the team are paid.
PAY YOUR PEOPLE OF COLOR @bonappetit WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK !
I am foaming at the mouth at the idea that Bon Appetit pays so goddamn little/apparently nothing at all to the people in their videos?!???? it's such a wildly successful channel??????? LIVING ON 50K A YEAR FOR NYC???
dear @bonappetit: i am a massive fan of your video content. your team has near single-handedly rekindled my love of cooking. however, until Adam Rapoport resigns, and you begin paying BIPOC editors properly, including the incredible Sohla El-Waylly, i won’t be watching.
i cant believe im boycotting bon appetit until they fire adam rapoport and sohla gets paid her DUES
So Bon appetit paid the only black girl to ever be on their show $400 per video............ they are completely garbage to me now
I'm still stuck on @bonappetit paying Sohla $50,000 salary in New York City, as talented and experienced as she is. She turned carbonara into a dessert.
so you’re telling me that sohla, who’s easily one of the most talented people in the kitchen, has some of the best content, and shows up to help the other chefs in virtually every video on the channel for months now, isn’t paid by bon appetit for her video appearances
While others urged fans to not be complacent and to speak up, placing pressure on Bon Appétit to "commit itself to genuine diversity in terms of both representation and salary".
Bon Appetit videos are the one bright spot in my life right now. Adam Rapoport needs to resign, and the test kitchen needs to commit itself to genuine diversity in terms of both representation and salary.
every Bon Appetit fan that (like me) spends way too much energy on this food magazine needs to focus that energy today into demanding: • the resignation of Adam Rapoport • equal pay for on- and off-camera talent • a Test Kitchen that's as diverse as the food world https://t.co/7tJsbfItnM
1. Fire Adam Rapoport 2. Give Sohla, Priya, Christina, Gaby, Rick and other POC in the Test Kitchen their backpay and fairly compensate them going forward 3. Commit to hiring a BIPOC for the new EIC 4. Commit to creating a better environment for BIPOC who work there @bonappetit
if by any chance you've watched some bon appetit videos, consider emailing to demand payment for sohla and other nonwhite staff for video appearances, as well as the immediate resignation of adam rapoport complaints@condenast.co.uk.
While many of the sentiments have been directed towards El-Waylly, others have also advocated for the inclusion of Black chefs in the kitchen.
While we talk about the dynamics of race @bonappetit, and Sohla El-Waylly's bravery calling them out, let's also remember how excluded Blackness and African Amercanness were from the test kitchen.
i love their content but knew bon appetit wasn’t the utopian workplace they try to portray simply based on the fact that they have virtually no Black chefs on camera. and that says everything you need to know.
So y’all thought Claire making hot pockets from scratch was perfectly fine but African food would have been “too tricky”? @bonappetit
In response to the controversy, Rapoport has announced that he will be stepping down as editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit.
