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Anna Wintour will not be ousted amid Condé Nast’s ongoing diversity scandal, execs confirmed Friday. The under-fire publisher is standing firmly behind the embattled longtime Vogue editor — its most famous employee — following her admission of “hurtful and intolerant behavior” at the fashion bible. As Page Six first reported this week, Wintour acknowledged in …
Anna Wintour will not be ousted amid Condé Nast’s ongoing diversity scandal, execs confirmed Friday.
The under-fire publisher is standing firmly behind the embattled longtime Vogue editor — its most famous employee — following her admission of “hurtful and intolerant behavior” at the fashion bible.
As Page Six first reported this week, Wintour acknowledged in a note to staff that “it can’t be easy to be a Black employee at Vogue,” saying that it had not “found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators.”
We’re told that Wintour called a meeting Friday after recognizing how upset employees were, during which she talked about making “actionable changes.” This was followed by a tense town hall meeting with Condé CEO Roger Lynch, which Wintour apparently did not join.
During the all-staff meeting with Lynch, employees immediately asked questions about Wintour’s status at the company, where she is chief creative director. Asked if she was going to be ousted following days of intense media speculation, Lynch said: “There is no truth to that,” Page Six is told.
A source said: “The first thing they addressed was Anna’s possible departure. Dannielle Carrig from comms called the reports of her departure a ‘strategic distraction.’
“But someone else said, ‘This is what everyone is asking and wanting to know – Why isn’t Anna leaving? Do you endorse her behavior? It’s not just one statement. It’s the way she lives and has always led this organization. A movie was made about her behavior and it was applauded, she did not learn, she has not changed. I find it insulting that you are saying she has learned and changed her behavior’.”
Plus, when asked about Wintour’s controversial role on a company diversity committee, Lynch doubled down and said she would also remain part of that group.
“I think she can be an incredibly positive force for change. Like I said earlier: Many of us can look back at our history and think of things we should’ve done differently,” he said.
“The real question is: Are you in a position to contribute and make change now? I think there are very few people in the world who can have the influence to change the culture … than Anna,” he said.
Over the past week, the publisher has seen the departure of Bon Appétit’s editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport, who resigned after a 2013 photograph emerged of him and his wife in brownface.
Complaints were then made that black staff did not get paid equally for their work.
Top video head Matt Duckor then resigned after current and former employees resurfaced old comments he made comments about Asians and gay people.
Lynch said: “Every single one of us on this call has said something that you’re ashamed of.
“The real question is: Have you learned from them? Have you taken ownership from it? And clearly: How serious was it?”
Lynch added Condé would scrutinize its internal company makeup by “accelerating our first ever diversity and inclusion report to be published later this summer.”
