You know Chrissy Teigen. The model and the mother of two has become a household name with Cravings, her lifestyle brand that includes cookbooks, cookware, and a blog.
And this is chef Alison Roman, a bestselling author and a food columnist for the New York Times and Bon Appétit.
On Thursday, Alison was featured in an article from the New Consumer in which she called out Chrissy, as well as professional organizer Marie Kondo, for capitalizing on their fame and "making stuff that you can buy."
"Like, what Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me," Alison said. "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 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."
With all the speed of the internet, Alison's comments made their way back to Chrissy, who voiced her hurt and disappointment in a Twitter thread.
this is a huge bummer and hit me hard. 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. https://t.co/9xrvQBInAp
"I started Cravings because I wanted something for myself. I wanted something John didn't buy, I wanted something to do that calmed me, made me happy and made others happy, too," the 34-year-old explained.
She continued, "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."
Chrissy continued by saying she didn't think she'd "ever been so bummed out by the words of a fellow food-lover," and that she "had no idea I was perceived that way."
I genuinely loved everything about Alison. Was jealous she got to have a book with food on the cover instead of a face!! I've made countless NYT recipes she's created, posting along the way.
She went on to describe the hard work and dedication she puts into her brand before concluding, "This 'farm' you think of doesn't exist. I am the farm. I am the cows the horses the pigs."
there are many days I cry very hard because cravings, the site, is our baby we love to pump content onto. we do this work ourselves, and there is NO monetary gain yet. it is just work work work and the reward is you liking it. so to be called a sellout....hooooo it hurts
A ton of people came to Chrissy's defense, including her husband, John Legend, who said he was so proud of her.
@chrissyteigen I love what you are building. I love that it comes straight from your heart and your brilliant, creative mind. I'm so proud of you
Alison responded to the backlash a short time later...
when women bully other women for being honest about money and how much they do or do not make, well, thats amore
I want to clarify, I am not coming for anyone who's successful, especially not women. 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.
...before apologizing to Chrissy.
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.
This was the last thing Chrissy said on the matter, but last I checked, the pair still followed each other, so maybe she accepted Alison's apology?
anyhow. now that that's out there, I guess we should probably unfollow each other @alisoneroman
Then again, maybe not.
@xineh @alisoneroman good to know.
