Alison Roman Is ‘Deeply Sorry’ For Calling Chrissy Teigen And Marie Kondo Sellouts

The New York Times columnist wrote a lengthy apology to the famous women on Twitter after her inflammatory comments about them went viral.
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Alison Roman is apologizing for the controversial remarks she made about model Chrissy Teigen and author Marie Kondo — again.

The New York Times food columnist posted a new and lengthier apology to her social media accounts Monday in which she said she was “deeply embarrassed and sorry” for her “stupid, careless and insensitive” behavior that likely led to Teigen taking “a little break” from Twitter.

“Among the many uncomfortable things I’ve begun processing is the knowledge that my comments were rooted in my own insecurity,” she wrote. “My inability to appreciate my own success without comparing myself and knocking others down — in this case two accomplished women — is something I recognize I most definitely struggle with, and am working to fix. I don’t want to be a person like that.”

Roman, who is the author of two New York Times bestselling cookbooks, “Dining In” and “Nothing Fancy,” has become extremely popular among millennials. Many of the recipes she posts on her Instagram account go viral — especially since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The Cut even dubbed her “the domestic goddess of the apocalypse.”

Due to her rising fame, Roman has done quite a few interviews in the past couple of months, and last week she got pretty salty while speaking to The New Consumer about Teigen and Kondo — two women who are also beloved by millennials and have found success in the lifestyle industry.

Teigen, who rose to fame as a model, is a TV personality and social media phenomenon. In 2016 she became a New York Times bestselling author with her cookbook “Cravings.”

Kondo is the author of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,” the latter of which was turned into a Netflix series. Kondo is famously known for telling people to throw personal items away if they do not “spark joy.”

Both women also sell kitchen and cooking supplies — an aspect of the lifestyle empires that Roman apparently had an issue with in her interview with The New Consumer.

“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,” Roman told the magazine. “I’m like, damn, bitch, you fucking 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 shit!’”

Roman also said that what Teigen has done with her brand “is so crazy to me.”

Alison Roman on “Watch What Happens Live.”
Alison Roman on “Watch What Happens Live.”
Bravo via Getty Images

“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 added of Teigen:

“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 fucking money.”

Roman was met with backlash on social media for going after two successful Asian women. Teigen seemed especially hurt by Roman’s remarks — and tweeted on Friday that she has been a fan of the New York Times columnist for a while.

Teigen also announced Sunday that she was taking “a break from Twitter” due to backlash she was receiving from Roman’s comments — though it seems she started posting on the social media platform again by Monday evening.

In response to Teigen, Roman tweeted Friday she was “genuinely sorry” for her comments and clarified that she wasn’t “coming for anyone who’s successful, especially not women.”

On Monday, Roman decided to apologize again. In her lengthier apology the 34-year-old author also spoke candidly about her ignorance.

“The fact that it didn’t occur to me that I had singled out two Asian women is one hundred percent a function of my privilege,” she wrote. “I know that our culture frequently goes after women, especially women of color, and I’m ashamed to have contributed to that.”

She added: “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.”

And for the record, Teigen accepted Roman’s apology. Kondo had not appeared to have responded publicly about the apology as of Tuesday night.

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