Alison Roman Is Being Called out for Criticizing Marie Kondo
New York Times columnist and cookbook author Alison Roman this weekend attempted to clarify her recent remarks about Netflix phenomenon and organizational expert Marie Kondo, whom she called a sellout in a widely-criticized interview with the New Consumer.
"I want to clarify, I am not coming for anyone who's successful, especially not women," Alison wrote on Twitter amid the backlash. "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."
Alison's original remarks came after she asked if there was "a fine line between consumption and pollution" in a conversation about content creation with Dan Frommer. She championed her own approach, saying "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," Alison added. "I’m like, damn, b**ch, you f**king 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**t!'"
In the original version of the interview, Alison was quoted as saying: "For the low, low price of $19.99, please to buy my cutting board!" Those remarks were subsequently criticized on Twitter for allegedly "mocking" Marie's accent.
"Please to buy my cutting board"?! What is that?! Were you mocking her accent?! I mean, I have honestly never ever heard of you b4 the piece showed up in my TL, but THAT shit?! You're wrong for that!
— flygyrl72 (@flygyrl72) May 8, 2020
I was def not mocking anyone or anyone’s accent- the “please to” was from an eastern european cookbook called “please to the table,” which my friends and I love. We say “please to” as an inside joke that clearly does not travel well- I realize how that reads and feel embarrassed!
— alison roman (@alisoneroman) May 8, 2020
"I was def not mocking anyone or anyone’s accent- the 'please to' was from an eastern european cookbook called 'please to the table,' which my friends and I love," Roman responded to one critic on Twitter. "We say 'please to' as an inside joke that clearly does not travel well- I realize how that reads and feel embarrassed!"
The word "to" was temporarily pulled from the article on New Consumer, and an editor's note was added explaining that the word had been removed to avoid misinterpretation. The note states that Alison "used a comedic voice to conjure what sounds like a tacky infomercial pitch" during the interview.
"I want to set the record unequivocally straight: Alison was not mocking an Asian accent when she said that to me," Dan told House Beautiful.
Alison also courted controversy in the same interview by name-checking Chrissy Teigen, whose success she called "crazy to me."
"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," she said: "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**king money."
Both Alison and Chrissy have been on the cover of Cherry Bombe, the magazine that celebrates women and food. The publication said it was "disappointed" to read Alison's comments, calling them "not acceptable."
A post shared by Cherry Bombe (@cherrybombe) on May 9, 2020 at 8:49am PDT
"Women calling other women sell-outs and b**ches for their hard-earned accomplishments is not acceptable. White women calling women of color sell-outs and b**ches for their hard-earned accomplishments is not acceptable," the magazine wrote on Instagram. "There’s no excuse in 2020 for not knowing better, especially when you’re a gatekeeper or celebrated individual in the food world. Those in a privileged position need to check their privilege and humility on a regular basis. If you’re not using your platform today to lift others, you don’t deserve the platform."
"We hope Alison takes the time to understand why her comments were offensive to so many and issue genuine apologies to both women," it added.
While Alison publicly apologized to Chrissy on Twitter, she has not directly extended the same olive branch to Marie. House Beautiful reached out to Alison Roman for a quote but did not hear back at the time of publishing.
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