Condé Nast video editor Matt Duckor resigns over racial bias complaints

A top Conde Nast video editor has resigned over complaints of racial bias in the workplace — marking the publishing giant’s second high-profile departure in recent days over racial issues.

Matt Duckor, head of Condé Nast Entertainment’s fast-growing lifestyle video programming, stepped down amid allegations that he didn’t feature people of color in Bon Appetit Test Kitchen videos and didn’t pay them equally to white employees — if at all.

The controversy kicked off after Sohla El-Waylly, an assistant editor at Bon Appetit, complained that only white editors are paid to make video appearances for the magazine’s digital channels, according to Business Insider. She said she was hired at a salary of $50,000 to “assist white editors with significantly less experience than me.”

Condé Nast denied that non-white employees are not paid for video appearances.

Bon Appetit editor in chief Adam Rappaport also stepped down on Monday after an Instagram post of him in brownface surfaced amid the staff uproar over pay disparities.

Duckor’s resignation comes as old tweets of his resurfaced and are being criticized as being homophobic. In one, Duckor posted, “Gay men use the gym as a place to socialize and to have secret liaisons in the bathrooms. WORKING OUT IS SO GAY.”

In another post he tweeted, “Dude signing along with John Mayer while I wait for my sandwich. Gay.”

Brendan Bryant @bd_bryant tweeted “as a former #Condenast employee (tech side) and member of @bonappetit the biases are not just at BA but at every brand. there are people who are even more responsible, but it starts with leadership at Conde Nast.”

Conde Nast held a virtual town hall on Tuesday to address concerns. And as Page Six reported Tuesday, even Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, the company’s artistic director, issued an apology for “mistakes” made in her 32 year career for not “finding ways to give space to black editors, writers, photographers, designers.” She also acknowledged publishing images that were “hurtful and intolerant.”

The head of Conde Nast Entertainment Oren Katzeff said in a memo Wednesday that the company will work “to improve talent selection and hiring (both in front of the camera and behind the camera).”

“We’ve already started the process of reviewing our practices and over the next week we’ll be bringing forward a plan of action centered on diversity and inclusion,” Katzeff said.

But the Daily Beast reported that Katzeff himself has been accused of making offensive comments about Mexicans and women on social media. He has since deleted the comments and apologized, the Daily Beast reported.

The company had no comment at press time on the latest departure.