Once at the peak of YouTube’s food scene, Bon Appetit (BA)’s ‘Test Kitchen’ saw a period of radio silence, followed by the bitter departure of several crew members. The reality of the publication’s governance unfolded when its former editor-in-chief, Adam Rapoport, championed the Black Lives Matter movement, while an image of him donning blackface resurfaced.
Immediately, several BA contributors called Rapoport out for discriminatory treatment and inequitable pay towards people of colour (POC). Among them were Sohla El-Waylly and Priya Krishna, who exposed a systemic racist culture in the workplace and accused the publication of pushing certain individuals into the spotlight as a “display of diversity”, while not being compensated for their work. Some of BA’s most well-loved stars – including Molly Baz, Gaby Melian, Carla Lalli Music, Claire Saffitz – soon resigned in protest.
The 2020 fiasco shed light on the performative nature of the media industry as well as issues of representation that take place behind the scenes. On screen, BA’s most beloved crew consisted of a melting pot of cultures and personalities, often showcasing food and techniques from around the globe. However, the saga revealed that it was all for clicks and views, led by tone-deaf decision-makers who misunderstood the reality of racial privilege.
The last decade saw the percentage of ethnically diverse CEOs (from the world’s leading firms) double from 5.4% to 10.7%. Nevertheless, Caucasians still make up 89.3% of sitting CEOs.
With this in mind, insensitivity towards other cultures and a reliance on being “woke” has led to the widespread “racialisation” of social media. This has been the pitfall of previous industry leaders, such as Buzzfeed, Cut and Jubilee. Contributors and audiences soon catch on, falling out of love with disingenuous, exploitive content.
Embracing multiculturalism not only dispels racial biases, but provides the opportunity for diverse voices to be heard. In the case of BA, “challenging” social stigmas through performativity only worsened the issue, and the bubble of a welcoming, organic environment had burst.
The rise of several POC internet food personalities such as Doobydobap, Matt Stonie and Guga Foods have reflected that authenticity and passion for food is what makes their content timeless. Ethnicity comes secondary to their branding.
Led by Dawn Davis, Bon Appetit’s relaunch welcomed a more diverse leadership team and new faces, who now focus on diversifying content and including new voices, in an attempt to regain public trust. – But could this have been avoided if their talent were treated fairly from the start?
Author: Sarah Lim
Sources
https://www.popmatters.com/bon-appetit-you-tube-dramaturgy https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2022/04/after-the-reckoning-can-bon-apptit-recover?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest
Comments