Alison Roman recently gave what will hopefully be the most off-the-rails interview of her career.
In it, she lashes out at Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo, both of whom she calls some choice names.
She apologized, but it's what happened next that's raising eyebrows. After her first apology, Alison took more time with the issue and eventually issued a bombshell of a follow-up statement.
But is it enough?
Let's start by going over the basics. Alison's interview was casual and candid and that vibe may have allowed her to drop her guard a little too low.
Like way low.
Low enough to criticize Marie and Chrissy for monetizing their skills... in the same interview where Alison says that she needs to monetize her own skills.
Scared Freak Out GIF by The Meredith Vieira ShowGiphy
Alison said as far as she is concerned, Marie Kondo making tangible things like books makes her a hypocrite because it goes against the minimalism that made her famous.
Alison also called Marie a b*tch for no apparent reason.
She takes aim at Chrissy Teigen too, calling her little more than a "content farm." She also implies that Chrissy is horrifying and flat out dismisses her, saying, "I don't aspire to that."
We didn't know it was like that in the lifestyle/cooking/home-stuff game.
We knew it was kiiiind of serious—people don't play about their food or their sanctuaries. We just didn't know the game was this serious.
Though we shouldn't be surprised considering these two are a thing.
snoop dogg alcohol GIF by VH1Giphy
So this interview drops and obviously this sort of NBA-level trash talk doesn't take long to reach Chrissy, who is pretty bummed out about it, honestly. Turns out she was a fan of Alison's and even signed on to executive produce one of Alison's projects.
Awkward.
Fans of Teigen & Kondo were not happy, but it wasn't just them. People who aren't even into the lifestyle game pointed out that Alison tearing other women down was a crappy thing to do.
Her apology came quickly.
Normally that would be the end of things. But this time something different happened because people pointed out what Alison Roman did that maybe she didn't even realize at first.
After her initial apology, Alison must have spent some time looking at people's reactions. If she did, she would have noticed a theme emerged pretty quickly.
The world wanted to know "Why them specifically, Alison?". When there are so many men and women—most of whom are of a different complexion than Teigen and Kondo—in the lifestyle game, why pick Chrissy and Marie to attack and belittle?
But everyone low-key already knew what was up.
So yeah, putting her own name into the Twitter search bar would have brought up that stuff and a whole lot more.
Maybe that triggered the serious self-reflection? We can't know for sure what started it, but we do know she issues a second statement, this time directly addressing the heaping helping of White privilege and racial bias this interview exposed.
In a sea full of lifestyle purveyors just like Alison, she honed in on the few who aren't just like her. Sailing right past Nate Berkus, Martha Stewart, Gordon Ramsey, Gwyneth Paltrow and so many more is peak bias even if it is done unconsciously.
Alison posted the second statement to her Instagram and other social media, starting by saying she was "rightly called out" and encouraging everyone to read her thoughts on it—even people who somehow missed all the drama.
You can read her full revised apology here by scrolling left or right with the arrows on the side of the image on the below Instagram post.
We don't know yet if her more thought out apology or direct addressing of her White privilege and racial bias will go over well with the public or if/how she will move past it at this critical point in her career.
We do know Chrissy Teigen considers the issue resolved for now.
Oh, and if you're wondering what Marie Kondo was up to for all of this ... welp, Chrissy has us covered there too.
Turns out Marie Kondo just Marie Kondo'd her way through the situation.
This attack clearly did not spark joy, but maybe the teaching moment and commitment to do better will.
Teigen's first cookbook Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat is available here.
The set of Marie Kondo's books, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo: The Book Collection: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy, is available here.
